Up in Flames
by Lady-Annabeth-Winchester
Summary: A crossover between TVD, SPN, and My Bloody Valentine. A murdering spree on Valentine's Day rocks the small town of Mystic Falls with Elena Gilbert and Dean Winchester caught in the middle. Five years later the murders begin again when Dean returns to the town. He's reunited with Elena, awakening old feelings as they are stalked once again. Rated 'M' for violence, language, and sex
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD, Supernatural, or My Bloody Valentine. All rights go to respective owners.**

**A sort of crossover between TVD, SPN, and My Bloody Valentine. A murdering spree on Valentine's Day rocks the small town of Mystic Falls with two of its young citizens, Elena Gilbert and Dean Winchester, caught at the middle. Five years later, the murders begin again as Dean returns to his hometown to find that a lot has changed. He is once again thrown into the fray with Elena, awakening old feelings as they hunt down the monster that almost destroyed their lives once before. Rated 'M' for violence, language, and sexual content**

**Title inspired by the song "Up in Flames" by She Wants Revenge.**

* * *

**A few things:**

**1. This is not going to be a very long story. It might be ten chapters at the most, I think. If that changes, I'll let you know. If everything goes according to plan, it will be updated quickly.**

**2. This does not follow the storyline of My Bloody Valentine exactly though it is based off of it.**

**3. I do use some lines from the movie but a lot of it is changed as well.**

**4. The angels from SPN will not be in this much at all and if they are, it'll be at the very end.**

**5. Same with the Originals from TVD.**

**6. Italics are people talking about the accident, like journalists or people giving press conferences. **

**7. This will not have supernatural beings in it, just the murder serial killer mystery stuff.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Mystic Falls, Virginia was a peaceful mining town. Not a lot of trouble happened in the town and, even when it did, it was usually the town drunk, Frank Devereaux who was causing it. It was a normal, small southern town. There were a few families that were more influential than others and that's just how it went. The Winchesters were one of them. John Winchester owned the big mine just outside of the town. He'd inherited it from his father, Henry Winchester, who started the business when it was discovered that Mystic Falls was sitting just beside an overwhelming amount of coal. John's sons, Dean and Sam Winchester, were set to inherit the business one day. His wife had died a long time ago and the boys had practically grown up in the mine.

Mary Winchester died in a fire in their home when Sam was only six months. John threw himself into work, leaving Dean to basically raise his younger brother when their father wasn't there. Now they were older, they were expected to participate more in the actual business of mining. Dean was nineteen and worked a daily full-time job in the mine. Sam was still in high school, being seventeen-years-old, but he was still going to the mine after school each day and joining somewhat in the work. Dean, being more physical rather than educational, was more suited to the job than Sam, who would rather go home and read book after book. They were both strong boys, though, taking after their father and grandfather in that way.

Another family that had a lot of influence in the town was the Salvatores. Giuseppe Salvatore had a similar story to John Winchester, only the matriarch of the family died in childbirth with the youngest child, Stefan, and all of the Salvatore fortune was put into various real estate developments around the town. It made the family the richest in the town with the Winchesters a close second. The older child, Damon, was somewhat of a rebel. He had that in common with Dean. Damon was twenty-years-old, though, and the two boys hated each other for no real reason at all. Or, that was what everyone liked to think. But those who knew them closely knew that their natural rivalry stemmed from another important family in the town.

The Gilberts owned several places around the town and they were just barely considered to be in the upper class of the town. Miranda and Grayson had two daughters, Elena and Katherine Gilbert, who were identical twins. Katherine was considered the wild child, for good reason. With a child already born at seventeen-years-old, she was the black sheep of the family. No one knew who the father was as Katherine kept her mouth shut when people asked. Everyone really knew that Katherine wasn't much of a mother and that Miranda and Elena did most of the caretaking of the young Jeremy Gilbert. Katherine preferred to go out and spend time with her friends and boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore. Other than that, the Gilberts didn't usually associate with the Salvatores. It might have had something to do with Giuseppe continuously trying to buy Grayson out of the properties that were set for Elena and Katherine to inherit.

The Gilbert and Winchester patriarchs, however, were quite good friends along with Bobby Singer, who owned a few of the automotive garages around town as well as a pretty good stake in Winchester Mines. Part of the reason why Katherine dated Stefan was to piss her parents off, whereas Elena was the white sheep of the family, the good girl, if you will. If one counted her as being a 'good girl' when she dated Dean, one of the bad boys of the town. Grayson and Miranda didn't mind near as much as they minded with Katherine and Stefan seeing as Elena had grown up around the Winchester boys. Part of them, and they would never admit this, wished that she would have gone for Sam instead but they still loved Dean like he was part of the family. Despite the parents' difference with Katherine, the twins remained close sisters.

The source of Dean and Damon's rivalry came down to Elena. Damon had always wanted Elena, everyone knew that. But somehow Elena's interest had never really wavered from Dean and everyone knew that Damon didn't have a chance against the life-long relationship that Dean and Elena seemed to have. But that didn't mean that Damon was about to give up and it pissed both Elena and Dean off endlessly.

The Winchesters, Salvatores, and Gilberts all had friends outside of the three families but their main interactions were within the families. The Lockwoods were another powerhouse unit with Mayor Lockwood at the head of the family. The Forbes owned a restaurant along with the Gilberts as their partners. The Bennetts owned the neighborhood grocery store.

Yes, Mystic Falls was a quiet, peaceful town with a few better-known families. That was, until a part of the mine collapsed one evening on February 14th, Valentine's Day, burying six miners alive.

* * *

"What are you and Dean doing tonight?" Caroline asked as they walked down the hall towards their next class.

"I don't think we're doing anything. He doesn't like the holiday, thinks it's all ridiculous and an excuse for candy." Elena shrugged.

"Candy isn't bad." Bonnie piped up.

"Easy for you to say, I saw your locker filled with those pastel candy hearts from Jamie." Caroline shot at the other girl who was standing on the other side of Elena.

"Oh and I didn't see a red heart chocolate box in your locker from Tyler?" Bonnie fired back.

"I think we've established that Elena is the only one not getting candy today." Elena said, laughing at her friends.

"I'm not getting candy." A voice said, trotting up behind them with her heels clicking on the floor.

"No, Kat, you're just getting fucked." Elena said, turning to grin at her twin.

"True." Her lookalike shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulder and grinning at Elena.

"Katherine." A voice said.

Stefan stepped up and threw his arm over her shoulders. Elena's smile disappeared at the sight of him but she didn't have time to say anything before she bumped into someone and stumbled. She whirled around to see the other Salvatore standing there looking very proud of himself as he reached out to steady her.

"Hands off, Damon." She snapped.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help out." he said, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Mm-hmm." Elena said doubtfully. "Why are you even here? Isn't it kinda creepy for a twenty-year-old to be hanging around a high school?"

"Relax, Gilbert. I'm not stalking you if that's what you're trying to say." Damon said, smirking at her.

"Then why are you here?" Caroline demanded.

Her dislike of Damon was even more potent than Elena's, if that was possible. It might have had something to do with the fact that she'd lost her virginity to him when she was fourteen.

"I'm here to pick up my girlfriend. It is Valentine's Day, after all." He said.

As soon as his sentence finished, Bela Talbot came skipping up to him.

"Hey baby." She crooned, pulling him into a deep kiss.

Everyone else watched with disgusted expressions as they practically dry humped in the middle of the hallway. Elena rolled her eyes and slid past them, everyone else except for Katherine and Stefan following, who were probably getting a ride with Stefan. They all walked outside, Bonnie and Caroline immediately greeted by their respective boyfriends. Suddenly they heard a wailing noise and all looked to see cop cars speeding down the street as well as ambulances and fire trucks.

"What the hell?" Tyler said as they all watched.

"I don't know." Elena said, pulling out her phone to call her father.

If there was that many emergency vehicles involved, her dad had to know about it.

"Hey honey, I can't talk right now." He sounded rushed and she knew that he knew.

"What's going on, Dad?" she asked, her brow furrowing at his hurried voice.

He sighed heavily.

"Part of the mine collapsed, Elena." he said solemnly.

Her phone clattered to the ground as she stared straight ahead, his voice echoing in her head over and over again.

"Elena?" Caroline said, panicked at her expression.

"I have to get there." she said, reaching down to pick up her phone numbly before taking off towards her car.

"Elena!" four voices called after her.

* * *

She couldn't get very far once she approached the mine. Instead of trying to drive further, she simply stopped her car and got out, running up to the crowd that was gathered.

"Elena!" her father said, his eyes wide as he ran over to her and put his hands on her arms. "You shouldn't be here!"

"Where is he, Dad?" she demanded, not listening to his scolding words.

"Elena…" he sighed.

"Where is he?" she repeated through gritted teeth.

Grayson nodded and put his arm around her shoulders, leading her through the crowd and pointing at an ambulance. Dean was sitting in the back holding an ice-pack to his head.

"Oh thank God." She whispered, darting away from her father and running up to the ambulance.

Dean looked up just as she reached him and she threw her arms around his shoulders, careful not to knock his head where she saw that there was a bandage on it.

"I thought the worst." She whispered in his ear, comforting herself with the familiar smell of his aftershave and the mines on him.

"Elena…" Dean mumbled, sounding worse for wear.

She pulled away and looked at him to see his green eyes were wide and fearful.

"They're still alive down there. All of them." He said.

"It'll be okay, Dean. I'm sure they'll get them out." she said, stroking his cheek.

"No, you don't understand. It's my fault." Dean stressed, looking terrified.

* * *

"_Listen! We're not sure what caused the collapse. Our boys were working the north end of Tunnel 5 when she gave. But I can assure you, we here at the Winchester Mines are doing everything in our power to get them out alive." John Winchester assured the gathered concerned citizens of Mystic Falls._

* * *

They were all sitting at the Winchesters' house that night, Elena huddled next to Dean on the couch with Sam on the other side. John and Grayson were in the kitchen discussing what they were going to do about Dean's startling confession when the doorbell rang.

"Sheriff." John said once he opened it.

"I'm sorry, John. You know I'm gonna have to take him in." they heard the deep voice of Sheriff Victor Henricksen say from the doorway.

Dean clutched Elena's hand as his face paled.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay." Elena said, stroking his cheek as she turned him to look at her.

He was still looking into her eyes when the Sheriff and two of his officers came in the room. She glanced up and saw a hardened look on the Sheriff's face as if he'd already decided that Dean was guilty.

"It's just a routine questioning, Dean. You were the last out." he said gruffly.

Elena pressed a kiss to his forehead before he stood and turned to face the men.

"I'm coming." He said, his voice dry and hoarse.

They didn't cuff him but it was enough that the press had already descended on the town and especially on the Winchester house. There were flashing lights all around as Dean was led to the squad car. Elena walked to the door, not caring about her parents' warnings. It didn't take long for the cameras to turn on her as she watched Dean shoved into the backseat with less than gentle hands. He looked straight at her with wide eyes as the door slammed shut. Katherine came up behind Elena and pulled her into a hug.

* * *

"_It's a routine questioning. Dean was the last man to leave the mine that afternoon. Maybe he could shine a light on the situation." Henricksen said to the waiting press at the briefing._

* * *

It didn't take long for the public gathering places to fill with people waiting to hear on news the next day. One of those places was the Roadhouse that the Gilberts owned. It was managed and run by Ellen Harvelle and her daughter, Jo. It was also Elena's favorite place to be other than with Dean. But being with him wasn't an option right now. He was stuck at his house with the family lawyers who were trying to figure out whether he would be held accountable for his actions.

* * *

"_Dean Winchester is responsible for the collapse, but… but it was an accident. And that's the thing we have to remember. It was an accident." Henricksen said at the next press briefing. "The kid forgot to bleed the methane lines. It could happen to anyone and it happened to him."_

* * *

"Could have happened to anyone." One of the bar patrons scoffed, shaking his head over a beer. "Accident my ass. The boy was lazy and always has been a wild card. He should have never been let in those mines, much less given any responsibilities."

The men around him mumbled in agreement until a piece of paper with a total for their drinks was slapped onto the table that they were sitting around. They all looked up into the blazing eyes of Elena Gilbert, all of them shrinking away from the dangerous glint in her eyes.

"You can pay your tab and get out of here." She snapped.

"Excuse m…" one of the men began arguing.

"Talk like that is not allowed in my family's bar! Pay your tab and get out!" Elena said louder, glaring them down.

The bar quieted as she drew attention to them with her raised voice.

"You can't just kick us out like that. You have no authority in here." One of the men said, staring back at her.

"She most certainly can." Ellen said, coming up behind Elena and putting a hand on her shoulder. "We'll call Rufus over if you need more convincing."

The men all knew that calling Rufus over meant calling the grumpy man over with his shotgun in tow. They all grumbled as they piled the money for their drinks on the table and all got up, filing out of the bar. Elena stared around the bar, no one willing to meet her gaze.

"If anyone else has talk like that they want to put out there, they can get out of here right now! I will not tolerate it!" she said loudly.

A few more people walked out but everyone else remained, holding too much respect for the Gilbert and Winchester families to badmouth them, especially in front of the beloved daughter of one of the families.

* * *

"_This morning, at around 5 a. m., we recovered five bodies and one survivor. Alastair Warden was the only survivor. When he arrived at the county hospital, he was delusional, violent." _

"_The five miners that died were all killed by the blunt force of a pickaxe, not the cave-in."_

"_It was no accident killed those men. It was Alastair Warden." _

"_He murdered those miners buried alive with him to conserve his own goddamn air." _

"_Evidence suggests Alastair killed each of them with a pickaxe." _

"_Blood was found on Alastair Warden's pickaxe." _

"_Look, chances are very slim that Warden will ever come out of his coma." _

"_Let's hope God doesn't waste any miracles on Alastair Warden."_

* * *

**ONE YEAR LATER**

Sheriff Victor Henricksen could not keep the disgusted look off of his face as he walked through the hallways of Mystic Falls General Hospital. The bloodbath around him was disgusting. He couldn't count the number of bodies that were surrounding them. His deputy, Gordon Walker, was behind him, tracing his steps with a similar look. They wound up in the room that belonged to Alastair Warden. A sheet was laid over a bloody body and when Henricksen lifted the sheet to reveal a nurse with her chest wide open and her heart missing.

"Happy fucking Valentine's Day." He said, shaking his head as he looked up on the bloodspattered wall to see a heart drawn in blood.

"Sheriff Henricksen. Over here." The deputy called from a table in the corner of the room.

Henricksen walked over to see the nurse's heart laying in a box of chocolates with blood all around it.

"I think it's about time I retire." Walker said.

"You and me both, Walker." Henricksen sighed. "Who did this?"

"Alastair Warden." The other man said, looking around the bloodsoaked room.

"Alastair Warden's in a coma." The sheriff corrected his deputy doubtfully.

"Guess he woke up." Walker replied.

Sheriff Victor Henricksen looked around with a grimace.

"Where the hell is he headed?"

* * *

"Come on, Katherine. Everybody's already moving underground. Don't you think it's about time we joined them?" Stefan said, looking at her.

"I told you I gotta wait for Elena and Dean. I promised." Katherine said, smiling at him.

"Christ. Hasn't she broken up with that loser yet?" Damon said from where he was leaning against the hood of the car with Bela Talbot wrapped in his arms.

"Sorry to tell you, sweetie. But Dean's the love of her life." Katherine said with a smirk.

"Yeah, whatever. If that dick has the balls to show up here again, I will personally kick his ass." Damon snapped.

"Yeah, right." Bela scoffed and he glared down at her.

Elena slid out of Dean's Impala, smiling over at him as they walked forward. He was wearing his normal outfit, jeans with a t-shirt and a button down shirt unbuttoned over it with the sleeves pushed up. She reached out and took his hand, unable to ignore the slight tremble in his muscles as they walked down the hill towards the mine.

"Hey, guys. Thanks for waiting." She said with a wide grin as they walked towards Katherine, Stefan, Damon, and Bela.

Convincing Dean to play nice hadn't been hard since he was quite pliant on today of all days. Caroline was grounded and Bonnie was visiting her dad a few towns over so they couldn't come. Sam was working on a big project for school so he was unavailable.

"Damon and Stefan were just about ready to give up, but I knew you would come!" Katherine said, leaping off the car and bounding forward to kiss Elena's cheek and to grin up at Dean.

"Damon. Stefan. Bela. Hey." Elena said, nodding at them.

"Hey, Elena." Damon said, smirking at her.

"Okay, so before we go in… picture." Katherine said, pulling out a camera.

"No. Uh uh, Kat. I don't think so." Elena said, shaking her head as Dean's arms encirlced her waist.

"Come on." Katherine said pleadingly.

They stared at her for a moment and Dean sighed.

"Come on." he urged Elena.

"You sure?" she asked, looking up at him with questioning eyes.

"Yeah." Dean nodded, pulling her in.

"Yay! You guys look so cute together!" Katherine slurred, already a little tipsy.

Damon rolled his eyes as Katherine held the camera up to her eye. Elena leaned Dean, smiling at the camera as her hands encirlced his shoulders and her head tilted, his arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer.

"Okay. Say 'sexy time in the mine!'" Katherine said, grinning.

Elena laughed slightly as Dean simply smirked at the camera in his usual fashion.

"You guys want one?" Elena asked, gesturing to Katherine and Stefan.

"No. We're good. Come on." Stefan said.

Elena watched for a moment as they tromped towards the mine and she turned to Dean.

"Are you okay?" she asked, hesitant to bring it up because he wasn't really too keen on telling her how he felt.

It had been that way for the past year. Dean hadn't been held accountable for the collapse but that didn't mean he didn't feel responsible. Even John didn't blame him yet he still took it upon himself, drinking more than usual at the Roadhouse after hours.

"You ready to party?" They heard Katherine ask Damon and Stefan.

"Oh yeah." They both answered with lewd grins.

Elena came to a stop at the same time as Dean did right at the entrance of the mine.

"Hey." She murmured softly, turning him to face her.

She could feel his shoulders tensing up and see the look of terror on his face.

"We don't have to go in there, Dean, if you don't want to go." Elena said, her hands on his cheeks.

"It's fine. Everybody's here. You wanted to be here." He said, putting his hand over hers.

"Do you want to be here?" she asked, wanting to make it clear that he was the only one that mattered to her.

"Yeah." Elena stared at him doubtfully and he reached out, putting his hand under her chin. "Yes."

He leaned in and pressed a light kiss to her lips.

"Are you absolutely sure?" she confirmed.

"Yes." Dean nodded, finally smiling.

She stared at him with narrowed eyes for a moment before smiling as well.

"I love you." Elena said, leaning in to kiss him again.

"I love you too." He murmured against her lips.

Then he glanced into the mine with worry flashing in his eyes again.

"I left the beer in the car." He sighed and Elena felt her heart drop.

He was stalling for as long as he could.

"Here. Take this. I'll go up and catch up with you." Dean handed her the flashlight.

"Want me to go?" she offered, not wanting him to be alone if he didn't want to be alone.

"No." he said, smirking slightly before kissing her forehead. "Go ahead."

Elena shrugged and turned to walk inside. Before she walked off, she felt his hand slap her ass and she gasped, turning to stare at him with an aghast expression. Dean shrugged and grinned at her.

"Hey guys!" she called out as she walked into the dark mine, switching on the large flashlight he gave her.

She walked further into the mine and was finally in a place where no one else was around, and that freaked her out.

"Kat? Stefan? Damon? Bela?" Elena called, looking around.

There was no answer, just the echo of her own voice.

"Anyone?" she sighed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

Suddenly she heard a bottle clink behind her and whirled around. There was nothing there and she sighed with relief. Then she heard the sound of someone jumping out and a loud human growl. She screeched when she turned to see a person there with a miner's gas mask on. The male laughed, pulling it off and she recognized him from school.

"What you think I was Alastair Warden or something?" he joked, grinning at her.

Suddenly a pickaxe flew through the air and stabbed into the back of his head, poking his left eyeball out right on the point of the weapon. Elena let out a shrill scream once the axe was removed. A man in a real gas mask and miner's suit stepped out with the bloodied pickaxe and she screamed again before turning to run off as fast as she could. She could hear him pursuing her because of the heavy breathing. When she got back towards the front of the mine, she found several dead bodies of her classmates and others strewn about, causing her to whimper loudly and hope that her sister was somewhere safe.

She backed away from the bodies as cries of panic and fear escaped from her mouth. Suddenly a hand clamped over her mouth and dragged her into the shadows. Elena screamed and fought for a minute but she heard a familiar voice shushing her.

"Damon?" she whimpered, her voice muffled by his hand.

"Shh." He urged her again.

Her eyes peeked to the left to see Bela standing in there with them. They heard the heavy breathing and all of them became very quiet as the miner passed them, his pickaxe dripping with blood. Elena fought the urge to cry, faint, and vomit all at the same time as he walked down the dimly lit passage.

"Hello?" they heard a voice say and their eyes all widened as the figure stopped in his pursuit down the hallway.

"Jason? Is that you?" a male's voice, obviously drunk, questioned.

The man with the pickaxe slowly turned his head to glance at the boy.

"Come on, dude! You're freaking me out!"

The guy walked forward and right up next to where they were standing. Then he suddenly turned and saw them, his light from the flashlight falling over them. Damon let go of Elena to gesture for him to run. The male didn't get it, just staring at them. They shoved themselves back into the shadows as the miner turned and began to run full speed at the boy, who stumbled backwards with fear. It was too late and suddenly the axe was buried into the guy's head. Elena, Bela, and Damon all flew out of their hiding place, running away from him as they heard him pursuing them. Damon tripped and Elena whirled around to see the miner gaining on him.

"No!" she cried as he ripped Damon up and threw him against some barrells.

She grabbed the first thing that she could find, a shovel, and swung out, hitting the monster with it before he could kill Damon with the pickaxe that was raised high over his head. He caught the shovel as she moved to swing it a second time and that was when they heard another set of footsteps running up.

"Elena?" Katherine's desperate voice rang out of the darkness as she came into view with Stefan not far behind her.

"Katherine no!" Elena screamed with fear plaguing her voice and mind.

Once again, the warning came to late. Elena's piercing scream filled the air as the miner swung the shovel around and shoved it into Katherine's throat, pinning her against a column.

"Katherine!" Stefan yelled, sounding horrified and devastated.

"No!" Elena stobbed, stumbling backwards.

"Come on." Damon said, grabbing her arm.

"No! She's my sister! She's my…" Elena cut off when Katherine's body slid to the ground with her head still sitting on the top of the shovel.

Damon launched forward and grabbed Stefan, who'd collapsed on his knees. Bela was already long gone and the miner was focused on Katherine for the moment so he wrenched them away and forced them to run. Elena was wailing loudly as she did so, unable to keep it under control as her sister's death played through her mind over and over. Suddenly she was propelled into a body and she immediately recognized it.

"Dean!" she screamed, her despair making her clutch at him.

"What? What is it?" he said, looking past them to see what they were running from.

"We have to go! He's after us!" Damon yelled.

"They're dead! They're all dead!" she let out in a strangled sob. "Katherine is…" she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Come on!" Damon yelled again, yanking them towards the exit, as the sound of heavy breathing got closer.

Dean stared as the miner rounded the corner. Elena was yanked off by Damon and they began running.

"Dean!" she screamed and looked back to see him running as well.

"Run faster, Elena!" Damon yelled over his shoulder.

She sobbed as she pumped her legs harder and they saw Bela waiting at the car for them to come.

"Come on come on!" the other girl cried.

Elena turned in time to see the pickaxe slide around Dean's neck and yank him backwards, not killing him yet. Damon's arms encircled her waist and she fought against him as he tried to drag her backwards.

"No! No no no!" she screamed, her nails dragging down his arms.

"Fuck!" he yelled, letting go of her as she drew blood.

Elena ran forward just as the miner left Dean lying on the ground and picked up another pickaxe, ready to throw it. Her eyes widened and she suddenly ducked as it came flying at her. The sound of broke glass filled the air moments later and she turned to see that the weapon was embedded in the windshield of Damon's car. She dove away from the killer and stumbled to Dean's side, pulling him up. They both looked up in time to see Damon staring at them with a conflicted face. They didn't have time to think about it as the miner rounded on them with another pickaxe still in his hand.

"Dean run!" she cried, pulling him backwards.

His hand grabbed hers as they ran as fast as they could. The miner was following close behind them and Elena kept her cries quiet. They slowed down once they heard the breathing disappear. They looked around to see that nothing was there. But of course, when they turned back the miner was standing right in front of them. Elena screamed as he swung at Dean and they both ducked. Their hands separated as they dove separate ways. Dean was lying on the ground and the killer approached him. Elena was too far away and she let out a sob as she was convinced that she was about to watch another person she loved die. Regardless, she scrambled to her feet and made to run at the killer, ready to tackle him if need be.

"No… no…" Dean stammered out as the man pointed the axe at him.

Suddenly he raised it in the air, ready to bring it down, when a shot rang through the mine. Elena skidded to a stop and looked to see Sheriff Henricksen and Deputy Walker there. Blood splattered Dean's face as the miner collapsed to his knees, his face mere inches from Dean's.

"Stay down, Alastair!" the sheriff said, both of them pointing their guns at the killer.

Elena prayed that they would shoot and kill him. Alastair stared at Dean's face for a moment before stumbling his feet and began to run off down the passage. The sheriff and deputy shot at him a few more times but he continued on his path. Elena stumbled to Dean as he clambered to his knees and stared straight ahead with wide eyes. The sheriff got there first, squatting in front of him.

"Dean? Dean?"

He didn't respond, his breaths coming out in ragged gasps as he stared straight ahead.

"Dean." Elena said, collapsing to her knees in front of him and putting her hands on his bloodsoaked face.

They heard the deputy calling for the sheriff and he instructed them both to stay right where they were before running off.

"Dean." She whimpered again, pulling him into her.

His arms wrapped around her waist finally and his head buried in her shoulder.

"They're all dead, Dean. Katherine is dead." She wailed, tears pouring down her cheeks.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**All right that's the end of the first chapter. I hope you liked it! It's sort of the prologue leading to the rest of the story. Please review if you're reading! It'll help me a lot!**

**In case anything got confusing, I'm going to make it clear who is who so far.**

**Dean Winchester – protagonist, dating Elena, brother to Sam, son to John**

**Sam Winchester – brother to Dean, friend to Elena and co., son to John **

**John Winchester – owns Winchester Mines, father to Dean and Sam, best friend to Grayson and Bobby**

**Elena Gilbert – protagonist, daughter to Grayson and Miranda, sister to Katherine, aunt to Jeremy, dating Dean**

**Katherine Gilbert – daughter to Grayson and Miranda, sister to Elena, mother to Jeremy, dating Stefan**

**Jeremy Gilbert – son of Katherine and mystery, grandson of Grayson and Miranda, nephew to Elena**

**Grayson Gilbert – father of Elena and Katherine, grandfather of Jeremy, owns a lot**

**Miranda Gilbert – mother of Elena and Katherine, grandmother of Jeremy**

**Damon Salvatore – son of Giuseppe, brother of Stefan, dating Bela**

**Stefan Salvatore – son of Giuseppe, brother of Damon, dating Katherine **

**Gordon Walker – deputy **

**Bela Talbot – dating Damon**

**Victor Henricksen – sheriff **

**Caroline Forbes – friend of Elena, daughter of Liz and Bill, dating Tyler**

**Tyler Lockwood – friend of Elena, dating Caroline **

**Bonnie Bennett – friend of Elena, dating Jamie**

**Jamie Wilson – friend of Elena, dating Bonnie**

**Alastair Warden – killer**

**Ellen & Jo Harvelle – manage the Roadhouse that the Gilberts own**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD, Supernatural, or My Bloody Valentine. All rights go to respective owners.**

**Thank you so much to SwanQueen4055, DrawingMyHeartOut, CherrySin, Commander Jack Sheapard, diehardromantic, and the guest for reviewing!**

**A few things:**

**1. Sorry for killing off Katherine but it was necessary for my story. Please forgive me. **

**2. There is lots of cursing in this chapter as there will be in all of the chapters.**

**3. Elena's outfits are on my profile as well as her jewelry.**

**4. Some characters might be OOC from what you're used to but I'm trying to blend them together with the characters from My Bloody Valentine too so they're gonna be a little different for the purposes of this story. Also, Sam will show up but it won't be for a while.**

**5. Enjoy and please review!**

* * *

**FIVE YEARS LATER**

"It's hard to believe that Mystic Falls, this small-town slice of Norman Rockwell, is the murder capital of America. The Valentine's Day celebration approaches and it's been nearly five years since this God-fearing community was shaken to its core when local miner Alastair Warden went on a killing spree, taking the lives of twenty-two men, women, and children before being buried alive in the very mine he once worked."

Everyone in the diner looked up as the reporter spoke on the television. She was obviously not from around there and, as far as they knew, she hauled ass out of town pretty soon after she filmed this segment. It might have had something to do with the person she interviewed.

"But after a decade, have the residents of Mystic Falls been able to recover from the trauma? I'm here with County Sheriff Damon Salvatore, who has this to say."

Damon turned on the screen from where was looking away from the camera, trying to keep his temper under control.

"What happened was a long time ago. We're all just trying to move on." He said simply, rubbing his chin where a little bit of stubble was growing.

When he looked at the camera, his blue eyes pierced through it.

"Sheriff, do you ever worry that these horrific events might repeat themselves?" the reporter asked, holding the microphone out to him.

Damon scoffed.

"Well, I know you in the media would just love that to happen." He said, his anger barely contained before he finally snapped.

"Why don't you people stop coming back here every year? Hoping for some kind of… some kind of fucking horror show… to mark the stupidest fucking holiday a greeting card company ever invented?" the expeletives were bleeped out as Damon ranted at the reporter and the camera before walking off.

The customers in the diner all chuckled as Damon sat back in his booth with a slight smirk as if he was proud of himself for that interview.

"Eloquent, Sheriff. You make us look like an inbred mining community." Bobby Singer said from where he was sitting at the bar with a cup of coffee.

"We are an inbred mining community, Bobby." Damon said with a shrug as he sipped at his own cup.

Andie Star grinned at him from the counter, the spark of lust in her eyes not escaping his notice.

"So you got any coffee in this joint?" Deputy Alaric Saltzman asked as he walked in, his uniform cleaner and less wrinkled than Damon's.

"What's so funny?" he asked, noticing the grins on everyone's faces.

"Your boss. County Sheriff Damon Salvatore. If only your old man could see you now." Grayson Gilbert said from where he was sitting next to Bobby.

"I don't know. That's one intensely good-looking son of a bitch, if you ask me. I should have my own reality show." Damon said, looking up to where the interview was played again.

"Yeah, I'm sure your exploits arresting hardened bicycle thieves would be a big hit." Bobby scoffed, shaking his head.

Grayson and Alaric laughed as Damon shook his head. The deputy glanced up just as someone approached the booth that he and Damon were sitting in.

"Hey, Elena." he said with a smile.

"Hey, Ric." She said with a wide smile that seemed to light up the diner even more. "Hey, don't forget to pick up Jer's baseball gear tonight please."

Elena leaned over and pressed a kiss to Damon's forehead.

"Yeah. I'll take care of it." he nodded, watching as she walked to the bar and sat between Bobby and her father, accepting a hug from the latter. "Hey, you, uh, missed me on TV."

"Oh, yes! That's right! How was he?" she asked her father and Bobby.

"When you gonna dump this bum and run away with me?" Bobby asked, smirking over at her.

"I get off work at three tomorrow morning." She said with a grin.

"Well, I'll be sure to clean out my truck." The grumpy older man said.

Elena seemed to be the only one who could really get Bobby to laugh or even smile. But then again, she had the particular talent of making anyone laugh.

"Bobby. Come on. I'm sitting right here." Damon complained.

"Hush boy, you've got the ring on her finger." He grumbled into his coffee.

"Yeah but they haven't been to the church yet, Singer. You still have a chance." Alaric said over his shoulder.

"Thanks for the help, dick." Damon snapped at his best friend.

"Hey now, no need to fight over me." Elena said, hopping off once she was given a to go coffee.

She walked to Damon and kissed him before walking off, patting Alaric's shoulder as she walked past.

"You coming over for dinner tomorrow night?" Grayson asked Elena before she walked out.

"I don't know. Jo asked for tomorrow night off." she sighd regretfully.

"Andie and Ellen can't handle it for you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Elena grimaced at the thought of leaving Andie in charge of anything, even with Ellen there.

"All right, rain check then." He said with a slight smile.

"Thanks Dad." She said, kissing his cheek.

As she walked past Andie, the girl sent a heated gaze to Damon that Elena didn't notice.

"Elena?" she caught her boss' arm. "I've got a doctor's appointment. Is it okay if I come in late today?"

Her eyes were pleading as she looked up at Elena.

"Yeah. Get there when you can. We're just restocking shelves and decorating for the stupidest fucking holiday a greeting card company ever invented." Elena said, glancing back at Damon with a smirk.

"Hey!" Grayson said, raising an eyebrow at his daughter.

"I'm twenty three, Dad. You can't really control my speech anymore." she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Well… as long as it's not happening around my grandson." He said.

Elena laughed and walked to the door.

"Bye, everyone!" she said, waving to the entire restaurant.

"Bye Elena!" they all called.

Andie stood from where she was, shooting a smirk to Damon that no one else saw. Then she walked out of the diner.

"Well, gentlemen, I got some delinquents to track down." Damon sighed, standing up and pulling on his windbreaker that said, **Sheriff**.

"You want me to come with?" Alaric asked, looking up at him as the waitress set down a cup of coffee and a breakfast plate for him.

"No. No, you can hang tight, Ric." Damon said, patting his arm. "Finish your coffee. I'll call you if I need backup."

* * *

"Saw your boy on the news this morning. He was… eloquent." Ellen said.

"Yeah well, that's Damon." Elena said, shaking her head as she stood on one of the pool tables hanging up pink and red streamers.

"You of all people, Elena. I thought you would stop this stupid tradition." Jo grumbled from where she was lining the walls with hearts that they'd cut out.

"My parents have been decorating this bar with this ridiculous stuff and I'm not about to stop. Like you said, it's tradition." She said.

"Yeah but of all towns, you'd think this one would have no reason to even mention Valentine's Day, much less celebrate it." the blonde said, stretching on her toes to tape one high on the wall.

"Joanna Beth!" Ellen said in a berating voice.

"It's all right, Ellen." Elena said with a reassuring smile.

"I don't care if it's all right with you, Elena. We don't tolerate that talk in here, never have." The elder Harvelle said.

Jo had the grace to look ashamed as she continued pinning hearts.

"Sorry, Elena." she said softly.

"Don't worry about it, Jo." She replied, hopping off of the pool table and walking over to the radio to turn it on and fill the awkward atmosphere that had taken over the room.

"How's Jeremy doing?" Ellen asked.

"He's… getting smarter. Starting to ask questions." Elena sighed, walking to the bar to wipe it down.

"Oh trust me. He'll keep getting smarter." Ellen assured her.

"I know. I'm just worried about what will happen when he starts asking who his real father is when I don't even have an answer for that or when he asks what happened to Kat. How do you explain that to a kid with scarring him for life?" Elena said, swallowing the hint of pain that she still had at mentioning her sister.

"Well maybe you should wait on that conversation." Jo suggested, looking back at her.

"Yeah and let him hear it from someone in town that doesn't know when to shut the hell up? Or better yet hear it from Stefan when he's at our house and can't seem to figure out when to stop drinking?" Elena sighed.

"Delivery!" a voice came from the door.

They looked up to see Ash walking in carrying a box.

"Thanks Ash!" Elena said with a grin.

As a reward for picking up the alcohol to stock the bar, Ash got free drinks whenever he wanted them. Jo went to hold the door open as he went back and forth to bring all of the boxes inside. Elena immediately started on them to unload the alcohol.

"When is Andie getting here?" Ellen asked as she took the extra beer to put it in the industrial fridge in the back.

"I don't know. She has a doctor's appointment." Elena answered.

"And you believe that?" Jo scoffed.

Elena bit her lip, not wanting to think about it too much.

* * *

"This place gives me the creeps." Andie said, looking around the abandoned and broken down old Salvatore cabin as she pulled on her shirt. "Can we meet in a motel next time?"

Damon glanced over at her as he pulled his shirt on and began buttoning it up.

"Yeah, that's a great idea." He said, walking to her and pushing her hair out of her face.

He leaned in and kissed her softly.

"We'll just pull up and check in."

Andie grinned at him, not detecting the sarcasm behind his words.

"I don't think anybody would notice a sheriff's car parked out front." He said.

"Well maybe one day, you'll tell your fiance." Andie shrugged.

Damon squinted at her.

"And get run out of town? Don't be ridiculous." He scoffed.

"Well maybe if the town knew what their precious Elena Gilbert really did at nights with Dean Winchester, they'd be less enamored with her. Maybe you should enlighten them." Andie sighed.

Damon's jaw tightened for a moment.

"Maybe." He muttered instead of getting angry with Andie.

She smiled again and then turned, rifling through her purse. Damon admired the view as she wasn't wearing pants yet.

"I figure you'll be with Elena on Valentine's, so…" she handed him a red heart box of chocolates.

Damon smiled as he opened the card.

_To my Damon,_

_Be mine 4 ever_

_Love,_

_Andie_

"I...I didn't get you anything." He admitted, looking up at her.

"You don't need to. You already have." She said with a thrilled grin as if she'd been dying to say something.

She leaned in and put her mouth at his ear.

"I'm pregnant." Andie whispered.

When she drew away, she simply took his expression as one of surprise instead of the dread that he was feeling at her confession. For all his talk, he never wanted Elena to find out about his affair nor did he want to hurt her at all. This information would surely be the end of their relationship if she ever found out, engaged or not.

* * *

The mine was filled with activity when the black Impala came to a stop at the top of the hill overlooking it. Dean stepped out, every fiber of his being telling him to turn around and drive away. He'd parked in the exact same spot as he did last time he was at the mines for that party, only this time he didn't have a gorgeous brunette at his side comforting him with every step. Dean didn't know why he came here. There was no real reason to. The papers weren't being signed there and he didn't have anything else official to do there. But for some reason he still drove there as soon as he pulled into town.

He walked up to the very top of the hill and squatted down, threading his fingers through the brown, rough grass as he watched the miners working on the machinery. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the abandoned part of the mine. It didn't surprise him that no one would go anywhere near tunnel number five now. Not after everything that happened. He didn't even know if they cleaned up the cave-in that supposedly killed Alastair Warden. Dean shuddered just thinking of the name before he stood and turned, walking back to his car and turning it around to drive away.

By the time he got into town and to the house that he was expected at, the sun was drifting below the horizon and darkness was falling. He climbed out of his car and knocked on the door, hoping that his casual dress would be excused. He looked around, noticing that the place looked exactly the same as it did five years ago. He heard footsteps and turned to see Bobby open the door.

"Hey, Bobby." He said, waving slightly as he shifted from one foot to another.

It was strange to see his father's old friend after all these years.

" Dean… what are you doing here?" he asked, glancing around.

He gave the older man a strange look.

"What do you mean? I'm here to sign the papers." He said with his eyebrows knitting together.

"They moved the signing to Monday. I thought someone would have told you." Bobby said.

"They moved it to Monday. Great." Dean sighed, realizing now that he would have to stay in town longer than he anticipated.

Remaining in Mystic Falls longer meant that there was more of a chance of him running across familiar faces and that was something he definitely did not want to do.

"Well, boy, you're here now." Bobby said and for a moment Dean could almost forget that the last five years had happened.

He could almost feel Sammy by his side and see the warmth in Bobby's eyes, the only real father figure they'd ever had since their actual father wasn't really much of one after their mother's death. But then he flashed back to reality and saw the cold, disappointed look in the other man's eyes.

"Want to come in and have a drink?" And yet there was a hint of hopefulness in Bobby's voice.

"Yeah. Okay." Dean said, stepping across the threshhold as Bobby moved to the side to allow him in.

He followed Bobby to his study, looking at all of the things that looked the exact same as when he was here last.

"We missed you at the funeral." Bobby said as he poured out two whiskeys for them. "Of course your father missed you long before that."

There wasn't disappointment in Bobby's voice because he left John, Dean knew that. There was disappointment because he'd left everyone else and the easiest person to point out was the one that just died.

"Oh, he could have found me if he wanted to." Dean said, taking the offered drink and immediately downing a gulp of it.

Dean saw the comment coming before the other man even said it.

"You know he'd kick your ass if he knew you were selling the mine." He said.

"It is what it is, Bobby." Dean sighed.

"Bullshit." He fired back in a growl, suddenly losing his patience with the aloof man in front of him.

Bobby could hardly recognize Dean with the emotionless look and the deadness in his eyes. He would have wondered what happened to the kid he used to know, the one with the confident smirk and the mischeivous sparkle in his eye, but he already knew that it all came down to one name. Alastair Warden.

"That mine is Mystic Falls' life blood, Dean. We're talking families here." He said, trying to get something, anything, out of the younger man.

"I was assured that everyone would get severance and that the more experienced, higher up men, would be kept on." Dean said defensively but still not too emotionally.

"For how long? Three months?" Bobby demanded, feeling fiercely protective of the men that worked in those mines just as John was when he was alive.

For all the mistakes he made with his children, John was great at making sure that his workers were treating the best they possibly could be and despite Bobby's many problems with the man, he respected that aspect of him.

"That's not my problem." Dean said.

"No, it's my damn problem! You don't have to deal with the angry laid off workers when you leave here, Dean. The rest of us do!" Bobby snapped.

"Those mines have been outdated since Sammy and I were kids. But my father…" Dean paused, a pulse of anger rising in his chest as a defiant spark finally lit up in his eyes.

Bobby was glad to see at least something come out of the kid, even if it took the mention of his problems with his father to do so.

"… was too stubborn to see that. And you know it." he finished his sentence.

"Oh." Bobby said, nodding with a scowl as he reached up and fixed his cap. "So that's what all this is about."

Dean squinted slightly, staring at the other man as he wondered what he meant.

"All right." Bobby set his drink down and walked to one of his many bookcases.

He watched as the older man grabbed a box and brought it back to the desk, setting it down in front of Dean. He didn't read the entire transcription on the box but it was easy to figure out what it was when he caught sight of the words _John Winchester_.

"If you need to make peace with your idjit of a father, there he is." Bobby said, gesturing to the box that held the Winchester patriarch's ashes.

Dean sighed, setting his drink down and picking up the box.

"I'm majority sharehold after Sam signed everything over to me. Neither of us wants anything to do with the place. I'm selling the mine." He said with an air of finality. "And that's all there is to it."

He turned to walk out but Bobby's voice stopped him.

"Your dad, Grayson Gilbert, and I protected those men, you stubborn bastard! Selling that mine won't sit well with anyone in this town." Bobby snapped out as a last ditch effort.

Dean knew exactly who he was talking about when he said anyone but he chose to ignore the blatant reference to the single Gilbert daughter.

"Well come Monday, I'm gone." He said simply before walking out.

* * *

"Slow night." Jo commented, hopping up onto a barstool.

Elena nodded, handing her a beer.

"Well everyone knows your history with people that gossip about certain things in here. They're probably avoiding the place on purpose." Andie said from where she was messing with the radio.

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked with confusion.

"How was your doctor's appointment, Andie?" Jo asked, interrupting the girl from answering.

Elena narrowed her eyes at the blonde.

"It was good. I got really… good… news." The other girl said, smirking over her shoulder at them.

"What, are you pregnant?" Jo scoffed.

Andie turned and shrugged at them.

"Oh dear God, you're pregnant." The blonde said, sounding like she already felt horribly for the baby who would have Andie Star as a mother.

Neither of them saw Elena's mouth fall into a frown before she recovered.

"I guess this means I need to start looking for new waitress." She sighed.

"Why?" Andie asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Because you'll have to take a maternity leave and this is the most popular bar in town, not that you could tell right now." Jo said, looking around.

"And why is that, again?" Elena asked.

"No reason." Ellen cut in.

She sighed, staring around at the women with a glare, convinced that she would find out with or without their help.

* * *

Dean looked around the familiar motel as he climbed out of his truck. As he began to walk to the office, a small black dog came running out straight towards him.

"Ugh! You stupid dog! Come back here!" a brunette woman who was most likely in her thirties came running out of the office.

She was wearing jeans, a black tank top, and black boots. He picked up the dog as it sniffed his shoes and she ran right up to him.

"Hey, is Mel here?" he asked.

"Well, I sure hope not. Mel's been dead for three years." She said, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm Pamela."

"Well… I'll trade you the pooch for a room." Dean offered.

She smirked at him, looking him up and down appreciatively.

"All right. Come on." she said, turning to walk into the office.

She went behind the counter and squatted down, pulling out the guestbook for him to sign in. Dean immediately caught sight of something on her lower back.

"Who's Jesse?" he asked, looking at the tattoo.

Pamela let out a laugh.

"Well, it wasn't forever."

"His loss." Dean said with a slight smirk.

"Might be your gain." She said with a wink.

He didn't outright turn her down but they both knew it wasn't going to happen. Pamela may not have been in town five years ago but that didn't mean she didn't know the history and she certainly knew who Dean Winchester was. She also knew that he and one of the young women in the town had some epic romance that hadn't quite been resolved.

As Dean walked to his room, the key in his hand and his bag slung over his back, he heard the telltale noise of a couple going at it like crazy. He paused at the window, smirking for a moment before shaking his head and moving on. When he found that his room was right beside the amorous couple, he was not quite so amused. He sighed as he walked into the room and threw his bag on the bed. When he dug through it and found the bottle of pills, he sat down and popped out a few, taking them without any water.

"_Stay down, Alastair!" _the words echoed in his head.

He shook his head and laid back on the bed, closing his eyes and trying to block out the flashbacks that plagued his mind.

* * *

Back in the other room, the male slid off the bed, pulling on his jeans.

"So you gonna be okay to drive back, or do you want me to put in for another night?" Bela asked, pulling on a robe.

"I got a two-day haul to make in one day, if I'm gonna get back by Valentine's." the trucker, Trevor, said, turning to walk to the rest of his clothes in the corner of the room.

"Ah, Valentine's." Bela sighed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up.

"Did you know that St. Valentine was a patron saint of love?" she asked, taking a drag out of the stick.

"Yeah." Trevor said in a bored tone, pulling a t-shirt over his head.

"Yeah, the whole thing started in Rome in, like, the year 500 or something. They would have this lottery where young men would draw teenage girls' names out of a box. Then that teenage girl would become their secretsexual companion for the whole rest of the year. That's where we got our Valentine's Day cards from. Kind of romantic, in a sick kind of way, isn't it?" Bela said with a dreamy smile on her face, her head in the clouds.

"Uh. yeah. It's, um, romantic." Trevor said, rolling his eyes.

He bent down and picked up his wallet before picking up the camera that he'd used to videotape their activities.

"What are you doing?" Bela demanded, standing up when she noticed the thing in his hands.

"Nothing. I got this." he said.

"Trevor? What the fuck is that?" she snapped, her eyes widening at the sight of the videocamera.

"Bela. I make these for my own personal collection. Look. I'll...I'll pay you?" he asked, holding out his wallet.

"I am no hooker." She hissed.

"You are now." He shrugged, throwing a hundred dollar bill on the bed before turning to walk out.

"Shit. Fuck!" she yelled, digging around in her purse and pulling out a small handgun.

She took off out of the motel room, following Trevor to his truck.

"Trevor! Trevor, you son of a bitch!" she screamed and he turned to look at her with a smirk.

"Bela, that robe is see-through. Put some clothes on before some kid sees you." he scoffed.

"I don't give a shit about the clothes! Give me the fucking tapes, or I swear… I swear!" she shouted, pointing the gun at him threateningly.

"Bela, two things. One… I don't want you anymore. And two… I know the gun's not loaded." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Fuck you, Trevor!" she screamed, throwing the gun at him and hitting him square in the forehead.

"What are you doing?" he yelled out, clutching his hand to his head.

He glared up at her before turning to open his truck door. Suddenly a pickaxe came down on his head and the tip buried in his skull. Blood ran down his head for a moment but Bela couldn't see his attacker. She just stared with wide eyes. A heavy boot came out of the truck and planted itself on his chest, shoving him backwards just as the weapon was yanked out of his head. The video camera was dropped on the ground.

"Trevor. Oh, my God!" Bela screamed, turning to run away.

"Oh, my God! Oh, , my God!" she screamed, running into the office.

She didn't see anyone around so she ran into the back room where Pamela slept. She quickly slid underneath the bed as the heavy boots came into view. Bela heard the heavy breathing and immediately knew exactly where she'd heard it from. But it wasn't possible. She kept her hands clasped over her mouth.

"You stupid dog! Where are you?" a voice suddenly said from out in the office.

It was Pamela. The boots disappeared and Bela had no idea where they'd gone.

"Louis? Where are you? Louis, you little shit! Stop hiding from Mama. Louis, you are in such trouble." Pamela ranted as she searched around the room.

She was about to look under the bed when a noise sounded.

"The closet. Honestly." She sighed, walking to it.

Bela couldn't help but let out a cry of panic when she heard the sound of the breathing and the pickaxe shoving into Pamela's heart. The boots approached the bed again and the figure knelt beside it, pulling up the bedskirt. The black gas mask came into view as her heart pounded painfully. He suddenly reached under and grabbed her bare leg, trying to pull her out.

"No! No! Let go of me! No!" she screamed, struggling against him.

She finally connected her foot with his face and threw him off balance. He suddenly stood and ripped the mattress off of the bed, leaving Bela underneath a wire grid-like frame. She cried out and stood, pulling the frame up to act as a barrier between her and the killer as she pressed up against the wall. He pulled the pickaxe out of Pamela's chest and turned to her.

"What the fuck do you want?" Bela screamed, her eyes wide as she tried to find a way out.

Suddenly he reared back and stabbed the pickaxe through one of the holes, slicing into her chest.

* * *

Elena grumbled softly as she climbed into the bed after pulling off her jacket, shoes, and jeans. Damon turned over and put his arm around her, drawing her into his chest.

"How was work?" he asked in a sleep-filled voice.

"Fine, slow. I'm sleepy." She sighed, burrowing further into his chest. "How's Jer?"

"Mmm… good." He muttered.

Elena sighed and suddenly her eyes popped open.

"I have to start looking for a new waitress." She said.

"Why?" Damon said, a chill running down his spine.

"Andie is pregnant. She's going to have to go on maternity leave." She explained.

Damon didn't say anything.

"Do you have any recommendations?" Elena asked, glancing up at him.

"Why would I know anyone?" he shrugged.

"I just know you like to take an interest in the bar and my employees is all." She said with a slight smile.

The smile disappeared as soon as she laid her head back down again.

* * *

"Hey Jer, how's it going?" Elena said, ruffling Jeremy's hair as she walked into the kitchen.

"Good." He said around a mouth full of pancakes. "Uncle Stefan made these."

"That's cause Uncle Stefan is a good cook. Don't talk with your mouth full." She berated him before smiling at Stefan who was making more pancakes at the stove.

"Thanks for coming over to help out. Damon had to hurry off… crime scene, apparently." She said with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm just glad to be hanging out with you guys. I have a trip coming up so I won't see you for a few weeks." He said with a smile.

"Why do you always go away, Uncle Stefan?" Jeremy asked, looking up at him with wide eyes.

Stefan glanced over at him with a slight smile, looking a little distant as if he was thinking about it.

"It's part of my job, little buddy." He said.

"All right, kid. Let's get to school." Elena said, pulling Jeremy's lunch out of the fridge.

"Okay, Mommy." He said, sliding off of his seat and grabbing his backpack.

* * *

"Jesus, Bela." Damon sighed, looking at the dead body of his former girlfriend. "He took your heart."

He pulled the sheet over her.

"Jilted lover with a screw loose?" Alaric asked from next to him as they looked around the ransacked motel room.

They knew that, judging by all of the blood, Bela wasn't killed here but more than likely back in Pamela Barnes' room where there was a whole other bloodbath. The trucker was still lying outside where he was killd.

"More than one screw, wouldn't you say?" Damon scoffed, walking out of the room. "Bela never did the jilting."

"I'm sorry. Sheriff. I know you two used to be an item." Alaric said, walking next to him.

"Yeah." he said softly. "It was a long time ago, Ric."

"We checked the motel registration. There's a couple of fakes. Not too many people use their real name around here. If you know what I mean." Alaric said, gesturing to the guestbook.

"All right." Damon scanned the list of names quickly, his eyes widening slightly when he caught sight of one of them and it grabbed his attention.

"This name is real." He said, pointing to it.

"Dean Winchester?" Alaric said, writing it on his notepad.

"Sheriff, we got a video camera. You ain't gonna believe what's on it." another officer said, walking in with the videotape in an evidence bag.

* * *

"Elena, I'm so sorry I'm late again." Andie said, rushing into the bar as she yanked off her jacket. "They found someone dead at the Thunderbird. There's cops everywhere. Have you talked to Damon?"

"Andie, calm down. Deep breath. Now go clean the bathroom please." Elena sighed, not in the mood to deal with her talkative employee.

"But seriously, have you talked to Damon? Do you know who it is?" Jo asked, drying glasses along with Elena.

"Nope, I don't. He was gone pretty early this morning and he'll probably stay late tonight." She sighed, setting the glasses on the rack underneath the bar.

"You sure you're okay?" Ellen asked where she was counting the money in the cash register.

"I'll be better when I figure out what you all are hiding from me." she said in an accusing tone.

"Trust me when I say you're better off not knowing." A voice said and Elena looked to see Bobby walking into the bar.

"You too, huh?" she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Too early to start drinking?" he asked, sitting at the bar.

"Nope." Elena, Jo, and Ellen and said at once as Elena handed him a beer.

"The first one's on the house." She said.

"Well just so you know, this place is gonna be filled up tonight. All the old codgers in the town are gonna need a place to gossip tonight about the Thunderbird killin' and the Roadhouse is their favorite place to be. Their favorite young thing lights up the whole place." he said, turning to look at the ridiculously decorated bar.

"Aw, Bobby. I didn't know you thought I was so pretty." Ash said, popping up from where he was fixing the stereo.

"Shut up, ya idjit." The older man grumbled.

Elena laughed along with Jo and Ellen at the grumpy man.

* * *

"Hello?"

Damon sighed when he heard Elena's voice.

"Hey, it's me." he said.

"Damon, are you okay?I heard that somebody died at the motel last night." She said and he could hear the concern in her voice.

If she knew that Dean Winchester was in town, she would not be able to play dumb so easily. Elena was good at many things but lying wasn't one of them.

"Look, I don't have much time to talk now, but I just wanted to let you know that I won't be home tonight until late." He said.

"Yeah, I figured. I got Caroline to stay with Jeremy until I could come home.

Damon nodded.

"Also, I thought you should know it was… it was Bela. She was murdered." He said.

"Bela?"

Elena may have had her differences with the other female in the past but now they were at least nice to each other on the rare occasions that they saw each other.

"Hey, Sheriff, you want to come look at these tapes?" Alaric said from the next room over.

"I got to go." Damon sighed before hanging up.

He walked into the room to see the deputy watching the video. It showed Bela running away from the truck and then a figure all in black following her. The killer looked around just in time for them to see the gas mask on his face.

"Oh, yeah. This certainly won't quiet the rumors about Alastair Warden being back." Alaric said skeptically.

"People can think what they want. Doesn't make it true." Damon said with a roll of his eyes.

"The talk is out there, Sheriff. A lot of folks remember five years ago like it was yesterday." Ric reminded him.

"Yeah, and there's a lot of miner suits in this town, Ric. It's not Alastair Warden. He's dead, remember?" Damon coutnered.

"Sheriff, you got a Valentine." One of the officers said, walking in with a red chocolate heart box with his name on a sticky note on it.

He reached out and took it only to feel a sticky liquid on the bottom of the box. He drew his hand away to see what looked like blood on his fingertips.

"Ferris, get me a glove." He said, setting it on the desk.

He wiped his hand on a towel before taking the glove and putting it on. He reached down hesitantly and opened it to reveal a bloody heart in the middle of the box.

"Oh, Jesus!" Damon said, shaking his head as he backed away.

"Not Alastair?" Alaric asked after a moment of silence.

* * *

"Alastair Warden is dead. I shot him myself." Former sheriff Victor Henricksen announced before he took a drink of his beer. "It's a copycat. Just some sick fuck."

Elena glanced up from where she was making a mixed drink, not happy about the conversation that was going on but not bothering to go out there and stop it. The inhabitants of the bar were going to talk about it no matter what she did.

"He wasn't buried in no cave-in." former deputy Gordon Walker said. "They never did find his body, despite what the reports say."

Bobby shook his head from where he was sitting with them. That was when he noticed Dean walk into the bar looking troubled.

"Aw, hell. The Winchester kid. What the hell is he doing here?" Walker growled.

"Leave the kid alone." Bobby snapped, looking back at Elena who hadn't noticed his presence yet.

Jo and Ellen were half tempted to drag Elena into the back just to protect her from seeing him until Bobby could convince him to leave.

"Relax, Gordon." Henricksen began but it was too late.

"You bastard!" Walker ran up to Dean and punched him in the face.

"Walker! Get…" Victor grabbed him and yanked him away as the two scuffled for a moment.

Bobby managed to drag Dean backwards.

"Get the hell off!" Bobby growled at Gordon.

"What the fuck?" Dean snapped, glaring at him.

"He's back because of you! You were responsible. He wants you!" Walker yelled, launching forward again.

No one heard the sound of a glass shattering from behind the bar when Elena finally looked up to see what all the yelling was about. Ellen and Jo both looked as though they wished the groud would swallow them when she turned and fixed them with a glare as she realized what they'd been keeping from her.

"Easy." Henricksen said as he and another man dragged Walker away from Dean.

Unfortunately another man, a miner himself, grabbed Dean by his jacket.

"You're in the wrong bar, kid." He said, glaring at him.

"Get off of me." Dean snapped, shoving him away.

The large man shoved him backwards into the wall.

"Red!" Bobby yelled the man's nickname in a warning tone.

The man didn't listen, rearing back to punch Dean, who ducked the hit and caused him to punch a mirror and break it. Another man grabbed Dean and a scuffle began. A loud screeching feedback filled the air from the speakers and everyone stopped what they were doing and covered their ears. They all glanced at Elena, who was standing by the speaker with a furious expression.

"Everybody stand down, damn it!" Victor yelled before she could say a word.

"Alastair's gonna kill you for good this time. You hear me?" Walker said, glaring at Dean.

Everyone saw Elena reach behind the counter and grab Rufus' rifle, realizing that the jig was long past being up judging by the murderous look in her eyes.

"Winchester, hit the door. Come on." Henrickson said, pushing him towards the exit.

"Why? Cause you people want to blame me for the shit that happened a five years ago? I didn't kill those people!" he shouted, glaring around at them, still not noticing the approaching petite brunette holding the shotgun.

Elena wasn't quite sure what she would do with the gun but she was too angry to care.

"Come on. Come on!" Henricksen shoved him into another, more empty part of the bar.

All of the men, including Walker, turned to look at Elena with guilty looks.

"You would do well not to forget whose bar this is and the rules that go along with coming in here, boys." She snapped, staring aroudn at them.

"You really want him in your bar, Elena?" Gordon asked.

"I will make that decision, deputy." She said in a stern tone of voice.

All of the older men nodded, going back to their drinks looking thoroughly scolded by the twenty-three year old female. Bobby looked at her proudly as he saw her glance at the room that Victor had dragged Dean into with an unsure look.

"It started with you, Dean. Half the people here know someone who died because of your fuck up." Henricksen said, blocking Dean's entrance into the bar again.

"Alastair Warden killed them. not me." Dean said defensively.

"I know that, but you…"

"Then why don't they blame you?" he interruped the former sheriff. "I mean, you were the sheriff."

"Yeah." Henricksen nodded, done with this conversation. "I just saved your ass, Winchester. For the second time. But don't you worry, kiddo. There won't be a third."

"Good." Dean shot back.

They both heard footsteps and Dean finally looked up to catch sight of the person who entered the room. His breath caught in his throat when he saw her holding a shotgun.

"You know the rules." Elena said, her eyes fixed on Henricksen. "I'm not above tossing the former sheriff out of here."

"I'm sorry, Elena." he sighed, patting her arm as he moved past her.

Elena watched him go before turning back to Dean, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked up at him. He didn't look injured by the scuffle other than a slight swelling of his cheek where Walker punched him, which was good.

"Come on." she said simply.

Dean didn't dare do anything else other than follow her to the bar. He sat in a barstool and she handed him an ice pack and a beer, his favorite beer. He pressed the pack to his face as he took a drink. Then he looked at her with soft eyes, ignoring the several sets eyes that were glaring holes into his back. The only ones that mattered were the ones that were looking straight into his. Elena almost found herself getting lost in the deep, beautiful green depths of Dean's eyes just as she used to.

"Hi." He said simply.

"Dean." She nodded at him, her hands wringing a rag to have something to do while they faced each other with the bar between them.

"You're still working for your folks, I see." He said, looking around the place.

"No, no uh… my parents gave me the bar when I graduated. They knew I wasn't gonna go to school cause of Jeremy so they let me have it, wanted to see if I was mature enough to keep it afloat. I brought in even more business, if that's possible." She sighed, nibbbling on her lips.

"Oh that's good." He nodded awkwardly shifting in his seat as he dropped the icepack on the counter.

"Dean. What are you doing here?" she said, dropping the rag and putting her hands on the bar, leaning forward slightly.

He leaned forward as well, as if a magnet was pulling them in.

"I had to come back into town to clear some things up." He said.

Elena looked ashamed as realization filled her.

"Your father. I'm so sorry." She sighed.

"Thanks." Dean said, staring into her eyes.

"Dean, where did you go? It's been... five years." She said, her voice catching slightly and he watched as her eyes shone with the wetness that filled them.

"You look even prettier than when I left." He said with a slight smile, admiring her face that was more defined with most of the baby fat gone from it.

"Left?" she breathed, wiping away a tear that threatened to fall. "You say that like you just went off to school or something."

He glanced down at his hands guiltily.

"You just vanished. Your dad didn't even know where you were. We all started to think that you were dead." She said, her voice cracking on the last word, betraying the fear that filled her for the past five years.

"I'm sorry." He murmured, looking back up at her.

Dean's eyes caught sight of a picture behind her and he looked at it for a moment.

"That's a beautiful family you have there." he said, nodding at it.

Elena glanced back to see the picture of her and Damon with Jeremy squished in the middle and all of them grinning at the camera. Dean's eyes flashed down to the sparkling ring on her left hand.

"I guess it's not Elena Gilbert anymore."

"No. It's still Elena Gilbert. We're just… engaged." She said, shifting uncomfortably.

"I never thought Damon would settle down." Dean said with a forlorn smile. "But he always did like you."

Elena let out a breath and stared at him with sad eyes and a frown.

"I should go." he said, standing up and throwing money down on the counter.

"Wait." She whimpered before she knew it, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes again.

"It's good to see you, Elena." Dean said honestly with a sad smile before turning to walk out.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks again!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD, Supernatural, or My Bloody Valentine. All rights go to respective owners.**

**Thanks so much to SwanQueen4055, DrawingMyHeartOut, diehardromantic, CherrySin, Commander Jack Sheapard, and the two guests for reviewing! **

**Sorry it's been a while since I updated. I had a test and things to do. **

**A few things:**

**1. This chapter is going to have some flashbacks in it. I decided to make it different from the movie by having a little bit of history thrown in. There is also a bit of Katherine in it, so you aren't completely without her in this story.**

**2. In the flashbacks, Dean might be a little OOC from what you're used to from the show but I kind of have to write him differently. He hasn't been through everything that he's been through on the show. So he's a little softer, a little more open. I hope you don't mind.**

**3. Elena's outfits are on my profile.**

* * *

"_Elena!" a voice rang out._

_The small brunette turned from where she was walking to see a body hurtling towards her._

"_Kat? What is it?" Elena said, frowning at her sister._

"_I've heard news. You'll be thrilled." Her lookalike said with a mischeivous sparkle in her eye._

"_Okay?" she said warily, almost afraid of what news would excite her sister so much._

_Had Stefan Salvatore finally broken up with his girlfriend? Did she finally get her fake ID?_

"_I heard that Sam and Dean are finally back in town from visiting their relatives in Michigan." Katherine said, smirking knowingly._

_Elena flushed slightly but attempted to act nonchalant._

"_Oh, from the Campbells?" she shrugged, turning to walk up into their house._

"_Don't act all cool about it, Lena. I know your little heart is just going pitter-patter. You're fighting the urge to run right over to their house, wrap your legs around Dean's waist, and let him fu…"_

_Katherine cut off when their mother walked into the entryway._

"_What was that, Katherine?" Miranda asked with a raised eyebrow._

"_The Winchester boys are back in town, Mom." the devious twin answered as Elena glared at her._

"_Oh are they?" the Gilbert matriarch forgot what she'd walked in on her daughter saying. "Grayson! Did you hear that? John's boys are back in town! We should invite them to dinner tonight!"_

"_No, no, no… Mom…" Elena said, wide-eyed._

_Miranda turned back to her with a questioning look._

"_I'm sure they want a night to themselves to recover from traveling. And Mr. Winchester probably wants a few hours with his sons after they were gone for so long." She said hopefully._

"_Nonsense. Those boys will want something other than delivery pizza and soda. They love homeade food and how often do you think they get it?" her mother questioned._

_When Elena didn't answer, Miranda smiled and stroked her hair once before walking further into the house to tell Grayson to called John._

"_Oh…" Elena whimpered, sitting on the stairs._

"_Don't worry, baby sis. I'll make sure you don't embarrass yourself." Katheirne laughed, leaning over the banister._

"_I'm older than you, Kat. And this is your fault!" Elena said in an accusing tone._

"_You mean I did you a favor! Now you have an entire night to flirt with Dean." The other sister said, grinning happily._

"_I'm gonna be sick." Elena mumbled, turning to run upstairs._

_Katherine let out a gleeful laugh, running to follow her._

* * *

Elena arrived home that night, exhausted and her conversation with Dean running through repeat in her mind. Of all of the situations she'd imagined in the five years since she'd seen him, none of them turned out to be anywhere close to the real thing. She imagined an emotional declaration of love from both of them or a fury filled slap across his devastatingly handsome face. But she never thought that their conversation would be that calm… or that short. She heard noises coming from the office of the house and knew that Damon must have been in their working. Before going to see him, she made her way upstairs.

As she pushed the door open, she saw Jeremy lying on the bed fast asleep. She smiled and set her purse at the door, walking to him and kneeling by the bed.

"Goodnight, little buddy." She whispered, pushing his hair out of his face and kissing his forehead.

Then she stood and walked out, going to the bedroom and quickly stripping off her clothing and jewelry, throwing on some pajamas. When her face was washed and her hair was pulled out of her face, she walked to the bedside table on her side of the bed and pulled out a small box. Opening it, she saw several different mementos from her childhood up through high school. She pushed everything out of the way and pulled out the rectangular picture on the very bottom of the small box. Sighing, she looked at the last picture ever taken of her and Dean together at the mine the night that her entire life fell apart.

Rebuilding it had been hell, especially since she know longer had her sister with her to help out and her boyfriend fled town as quickly as he could. It came as a great shock to her when when the person who helped her pick up the pieces was Damon. He'd helped her pick up the pieces as well as Stefan. It was easy for her to find a way to get past everything with Jeremy to focus on raising him. It took her a year after she graduated to move out of her parents' house with Jeremy. Another year after that, her and Damon were living together. They'd only been engaged for ten months now. They both agreed to wait a while before they got married to let Jeremy get used to the idea. After all, Elena was the only mother he'd ever really known.

Everything was normal… for a while. But now… now it was all messed up again. The second that she saw Dean Winchester, she knew that she never really fixed everything. Elena sighed, her mind going back to the same night again.

* * *

"_Elena? Are you ever coming down?" Miranda called up the stairs._

"_Not planning on it, no." the fifteen-year-old called back down miserably._

"_Well I apologize, but you really doing have much of a choice." Her mother said with a slight smile._

_There was a moment of silence and Elena finally came out, dressed and fixed up from Katherine's insisstence on making her look perfect even if she didn't feel like it. She stomped downstairs with a pout._

"_Atta girl." Miranda said, reaching out to rub her arm comfortingly._

_She knew exactly why Elena was so resisten to coming to dinner. Her crush on Dean Winchester wasn't exactly a secret in the Gilbert household. The doorbell rang and Elena's eyes widened slighlty._

"_Go set the table." The older woman said with sympathy._

_Elena escaped into the kitchen and began pulling out plates, utensils and cups. Katherine was sitting on the counter looking amused._

_"You could help, you know." Elena snapped at her._

"_And miss watching you get all flustered? No thanks." Her twin said, shooting her a grin._

_Elena didn't hesitate before picking her hand up and flipping her sister off._

"_Love you too." Katherine said with a wink._

_She sighed and picked up the plates, walking to the table. She quickly set them in their right places, her hands shaking as she heard voices coming from the entryway. She turned to walk back into kitchen to get the silverware and came face to face with an AC/DC t-shirt. Elena froze and her eyes slowly lifted to see bright green ones staring down at her._

"_Hey, Elena." Dean said, grinning at her._

"_Hi, Dean." She said, unable to help the smile that bloomed across her face._

_Before she knew it, his arms were wrapped around her shoulders and hers were around his waist, her face pressed into his chest. His face was pressed into her hair. This wasn't an unusual occurrence. They had grown up together, after all. Whereas Elena and Katherine shared a crib and a playpen with Sam when they were babies, Dean was more their protector despite the fact that he was only two years older than them. But they were all good friends and had been since birth._

"_I missed you. I missed this place. You look…" he pulled away, holding her at arms length. "… older… did you grow boobs, Elena?" _

"_Dean!" she squealed, leaping away from him and balling her fist up to punch him._

"_Just joking!" he claimed, dodging her hit. "You're way hotter than your sister, though."_

_Elena flushed at his words even if she knew he was joking._

"_I heard that, asshole!" Katherine called from the kitchen._

"_Whoops." Dean shrugged, grinning widely._

_She laughed and shook her head._

"_You haven't changed a bit." She claimed._

"_I try not to. After all, I'm so loveable now. Why would I want to change a thing?" he shrugged._

"_Well maybe you could lose some of that ego." Elena said, unable to hide her happiness at seeing him again despite the fact that she had an incredibly huge crush on her childhood friend and he probably only saw her as a little sister._

_After all, Dean was seventeen and his trysts weren't exactly hidden from the general knowledge of Mystic Falls. Elena knew enough about him to know that she wasn't exactly his type._

"_Hurtful." He claimed, reaching towards her to pull her into a bone-crushing hug like he usually did when she made fun of him._

"_No!" she yelled, dodging him and sliding past him into the kitchen._

"_Damn! You're fast!" he breathed, turning to follow her._

"_Faster than you, old man." she said with a grin, backing away from him._

_She bumped into someone else and turned to see Sam standing there, at least four inches taller than the last time she'd seen him._

"_Stop growing, Sam!" Elena exclaimed, grinning at him as she threw her arms around him and hugged him._

"_Well hello to you too, Lena." He said, sounding as happy to see her as she was to see him._

"_Seriously, you're going to pass up Dean soon." She said, looking up at him as she pulled away._

"_Never!" Dean denied, walking into the kitchen._

_Elena happened to make eye contact with her sister and Katherine winked, grinning slyly. She flushed deeply and Dean noticed, looking at her twin to see what happened. Katherine shrugged innocently as Elena gathered the forks and knives._

_"I'm not done setting the table." She said quickly, practically running out of the room._

_Dean and Sam both looked at Katherine questioningly but she wasn't offering up any explanations._

"_She's a teenage girl, you know." She shrugged, grabbing the cups to put ice in them._

_Dean frowned a little, sticking his hand in his jacket pocket and feeling the cool metal against his skin. He would have to wait until later, apparently._

* * *

Elena sat up slowly, looking over to see that the clock said 5:23 AM. She'd been in bed for a little over two hours. Damon still wasn't in the other side. She slid out slowly, walking out and downstairs. Instantly, she heard moans and cries of ecstasy coming from the office. She walked in, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Damon glanced up at her, pausing the video that was playing on his laptop.

"What's wrong? Is it Jeremy?" he asked, looking at her.

"Jeremy's fine, but it's past five in the morning." She mumbled, walking to him to see what she expected, a video of two people having sex. "What is that?"

Damon sighed.

"It's an evidence tape." He informed her. "Bela's murder."

Elena gave him a sympathetic look, knowing that he probably wasn't enjoying having to watch it over and over again.

"I'm sorry. I'll let you get back…" she began, turning to walk out.

"Dean Winchester's back in town to sell the mine." Damon said, causing her to stop short and turn back to him. "He didn't stop by and visit you, did he?"

His blue eyes were piercing hers and she nodded.

"Yeah, he came to the bar earlier. I was definitely surprised." She said.

Damon looked annoyed and hesitant at the same time.

"Why? What's going on?" Elena questioned.

"The love of your life might be involved in some very deep shit." He replied.

Elena tilted her head to the side. It took them a while to get over the fights about Dean but she thought that they were at least past it now.

"He's not the love of my life." she sighed.

"No?" Damon picked something up off of the desk and handed it to her.

It was the picture of her and Dean that she'd been looking at earlier.

"You left this on your bedside table."

Elena sighed, tilting her head back as a soft "shit" slid out of her mouth.

"It was the last time you and him were together. Always brings a tear to my eye."

She shook her head.

"Damon, I don't want to fight." She said pleadingly. "It's… I gotta be at the bar in five hours."

"Yeah, well, I have to work now." He replied, tossing the picture back on the desk and leaning forward.

Damon switched on the video and fast-forwarded.

"I found this tape at the murder scene."

He paused it when a figure was passing the window of the motel room and zoomed in. It was Dean and he was glancing at the window with a slight smirk that she recognized. It sent a chill through her body to see him in the same place that Bela had been murdered. But there was no way he was involved. There weren't many motels in Mystic Falls so it wasn't strange that Dean happened to be at that one. But Damon didn't see it that way.

"If Dean contacts you again, you let me know right away." He said.

* * *

Elena sighed as she walked up to the bar. Instead of taking her car that day, she'd walked. Damon volunteered to take Jeremy to school so she was all right doing it. Holding a to-go coffee in her hand and with her headphones in her ears blasting loud music, she'd had a pretty nice walk. When she walked up to the front door of the bar, she began digging through her purse to unlock it. A hand suddenly came down on her shoulder.

"Shit!" she whirled around with a panicked look to see Dean standing there with his hands raised in surrender.

"Easy." He said once she pulled her headphones out.

"Jesus, Dean." She sighed, putting her hand on her chest where her heart was pounding.

"It's just me." he assured her, looking sorry for scaring her.

"I'm just… a little jumpy these days. Everyone is." She explained, referring to Bela's murder as well as the truck driver by the Alastair Warder lookalike.

She eyed Dean warily, Damon's words coming to mind.

"I'm sorry." He said, looking back at her.

"What are you doing here?" Elena asked hesitantly.

Dean glanced around, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.

"I wanted to, uh, talk to you when you weren't working." He explained.

"Well…" Elena glanced back at the door. "I'm at work."

Dean looked up before looking back at her.

"Well… you got 15 minutes?" he questioned.

Elena bit her lip, knowing that she probably shouldn't talk to him but there was something in his eyes that told her to do it anyways.

"Let me just set my stuff down." She said, gesturing to the bar.

She unlocked the door with fumbling hands and walked in. She was aware of Dean following her into the bar. Elena thre wher stuff onto the counter and pulled her phone out of her purse, shoving it into her pocket before turning.

"You wanna walk?" she asked, knowing that being out in public was probably the best idea with all that was going on.

She didn't suspect that Dean was the murderer for a second but it was still the safer option. Dean gestured to the door and she walked out ahead of them. They immediately began walking down the street towards the town square that was a few blocks over.

"How's Sam? I haven't seen him… God… in forever." She said.

"He's good. He's starting law school in the fall. He's engaged, too." Dean said.

"Yeah? You met her?" Elena asked, smiling.

"Yep. She's a great girl. Sweet, just what Sam needs. Gorgeous." Dean said, smiling at the image of his brother happy with his fiance.

He glanced over at Elena to see her nodding, her mouth set in a grim line. He recognized that look, having seen it throughout the years when they were growing up together. It was the look that she got when she was thinking of something sad. He had a feeling about what it was.

"I shouldn't have left the way that I did." Dean admitted. "I know I fucked up."

Elena sighed, shrugging.

"It was a long time ago." she said.

"You know, the second I saw you…" Dean looked over at her and she looked back, her cheeks slightly pink from the chilly air. "… I instantly regretted the last five years of my life?"

Elena felt a painful stab in her heart at his words. It was so easy to hang onto them and feel hope but then the weight of her engagement ring on her hand and the last five years on her shoulders.

"Dean…" she sighed, looking down.

"I know." He said.

Elena bit her lip and lifted her hand, running her fingers through her hair. Dean's eyes followed her movements and he caught sight of something peeking out of her sleeve.

"You know, if you sell those mines, you'Il regret the rest of your life, too." She said as they reached the park in the town square and she turned to face him.

"I didn't come here to talk to you about that." Dean said, looking like it was the last thing he wanted to talk about.

"You have no idea, do you?" she said, her eyebrows knitting together. "This town depends on that mine. Everyone here, everyone from the miners to the cashiers at the grocery store."

Dean shook his head.

"That's not my responsibility." He said defensively.

"Yes, it is." Elena shot back without giving him a chance to worm his way out of the conversation like she knew he had with Bobby.

He looked her with a surprised look.

"You ran away five years ago but the rest of us stayed to pick up the pieces." she said in an accusing tone. "We supported each other. Don't you remember how much that mine used to mean to your family?"

Dean simply stared at her, having the decency to look at least a little bit ashamed.

"I guess not." Elena said, shaking her head and stepping away. "Because you just ran away and you just keep on running."

He clenched his jaw before shaking his head.

"It didn't follow you for five years." He informed her.

Elena's eyes widened slightly. How did he possibly have the nerve to say that to her?

"It didn't? My sister died in that mine, Dean. Part of me died in that mine. Then you left and…" she cut off, shaking her head. "I faced it."

"I can't. I wish I could, but I can't. I lost my way." Dean said, looking deep into her eyes. "I lost my way in that mine and I lost my way when I lost you."

Elena chose not to respond to the last part. It hurt too much to think about even now.

"Dean you can go back to that place where it all went wrong and find your way again." She said softly, stepping forward again.

Even though he left and kept running, she still hated to see him suffering.

"What about… that other thing that I lost?" he asked.

She sighed and looked down, pulling her hands out of her jacket to twist them together nervously.

"Dean… I'm engaged. I have a family. Jeremy and Damon…"

He reached out and snagged her hand, pulling it towards him.

"You satisfied with that?" he asked.

Elena looked up at him, making no move to pull away from him. Her skin broke out in warm goosebumps at the feeling of his hand touching hers.

"It's my life, Dean. I wouldn't be in it if I wasn't happy, you know that." she said.

He scoffed and shook his head.

"That's a lie. You would stay in an unhappy situation if it meant making other people happy." He said positively.

Elena frowned, his words hitting a little too close to home, though she would never admit it.

"What makes you think I'm not happy?" she questioned, more curious than offended.

He pushed the sleeve of her jacket up to reveal the piece of jewelry sitting on her wrist.

"Because if you're so happy with Damon, why are you still wearing the bracelet I gave you?" he asked.

Elena's heart stuttered as she realized that she was caught. Damon never knew that it was Dean who gave her the bracelet. He never thought to ask where it came from or why she wore it every day. He might have had suspicions but he never mentioned them.

* * *

_There was laughter echoing in the Gilbert household, all emanating from the dining room. Everyone was gathered around the table eating, drinking, and generally having a good time. They'd been bringing up and telling stories of their childhood growing up. Elena, to her embarrassment and her mother and sister's amusement, had been sat right beside Dean for the entire meal. The table was small enough that everytime one of them reached for something, their arms or their legs or their shoulders brushed. Elena prayed that the redness wasn't showing on her face but she knew by the look on Katherine's face that her prayers were useless._

"_Hey…" Dean nudged her side. "… do you remember that time you threw a snake at Sammy?" _

_She couldn't help it, letting out a peal of laughter. She'd completely forgotten about that story. _

"_I don't remember." Katherine said, leaning forward with a questioning look._

"_You have to! It was… what… four years ago?" Elena asked, looking at Dean._

"_Something like that, yeah." He nodded, taking a drink of his water. "We were at the lakehouse." _

_John chuckled nodding._

"_I remember that." he said._

"_Yeah, Sammy squealed like a little girl." Dean said, grinning at his little brother, who was looking upset at the topic._

"_Tell me." Katherine requested._

"_Well Dean, Sam, and I were in the woods, just right at the edge. I think you were inside helping Mom do something. Anyways, Dean and Sam were climbing a tree and I wanted to climb but I was too short to reach the lowest branch. Dean wouldn't get down to help me but Sam did. He climbed back down and reached out to help me. About that time, I felt something curling around my leg. I looked down to see a snake, probably just a garden snake, on my leg." Elena broke off, a bout of laughter bubbling up in her chest._

"_I swear, most girls would just scream and flail around but Elena did not hesitate before reaching down to grab the snake. It hissed but it was already too late and it was flying through the air." Dean said, his words cut off by the laughter in his throat._

"_It landed… right on Sam." Elena said through her giggles._

"_On his shoulder." Dean nodded. "And Sammy did scream and flail around like a little girl, swatting at the thing until it fell off and slithered right away."_

_Elena gripped the table, laughter still coming out of her mouth._

"_I don't think I've ever seen Sam move that fast or that quickly. It took about two seconds for us to begin laughing." Elena said._

"_And to think I was getting down to help you onto the tree. What a way to repay me." Sam grumbled as everyone else laughed at his misfortune._

"_I'm sorry, you know I love you, Sam." Elena said, reaching out to pat his arm comfortingly._

_After dinner was over, the adults went to the living room to talk. Katherine was instructed to clean up the table since Elena was the one who set it. She turned her face on her twin, attempting to guilt Elena into helping her. Before she could, though, a hand captured Elena's arm and dragged her out of the room and into the entryway._

"_Dean? What's going on?" Elena asked, confused._

"_Come here." He led her to the stairs and sat down._

"_I wasn't lying when I said I missed you, Elena." he said, looking at her._

"_I missed you too." Elena said with a smile and a light pink flush of her cheeks._

_She leaned back against the banister, facing him. His hand came out and brushed over her tinged cheek._

"_Dean… what are you doing?" she asked, her eyes wide as his fingers stroked her skin softly._

_He grinned at her and pulled away, reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulled his hand out and held it out, opening it. A small bracelet was sitting in the palm of his hand. It was small and feminine, little bulbs hanging off of a circle of chains as well as a large heart with a rose engraved onto it._

"_Dean, that's beautiful." she said, reaching out to run her fingers over it._

_Elena looked up at him._

"_Where did you get it?" _

_He smiled slightly, looking down at it._

"_It was my mom's. My grandpa, Samuel, gave it to me." Dean said. "Said he wanted me to give it to that 'special girl in my life'."_

_Elena's smile faltered a little bit._

"_Yeah? And which flavor of the month is the lucky girl?" she asked, her question coming out harsher than she meant it to._

_Dean wasn't surprised, letting out a chuckle. Crush or not, Elena had always been vocal about her disapproval for the way he went through girls. He reached out and took her wrist._

"_Dean… I can't." she said, realizing his intention with wide eyes._

"_Elena Gilbert, how can you not know that you are the one girl that has stuck around in my life? Katherine doesn't count. She's a bitch."_

_Elena narrowed her eyes at him, her protectiveness of her bitchy sister coming out of her._

"_I know, you love her and she has her moments but she's not like you. You're annoying sometimes but I'm sure I annoy you too." He said, messing with a lock of her hair._

_She let out a slight laugh, nodding in agreement._

"_You're my best friend and you're that special girl in my life. My mom would have loved you." Dean said._

_Elena sighed, looking at him._

"_Why don't you ever let other people see this side of you, Dean? You know they would fall in love with you instead of calling you an annoying little shit, right?" she said, grinning._

"_I don't care what they think." He shrugged._

_He reached out to take her wrist again and this time she allowed him to slide the bracelet onto it._

"_I love it, Dean. It's beautiful." she said, smiling at how it fit just right on her wrist._

_She looked up to see his eyes looking into her, their green depths drawing her in just like they always did._

"_Go to dinner with me." he suddenly said._

_Elena's eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to grasp exactly what he just said._

"_You're gonna have to repeat that for me." she finally choked out, much to his amusement._

"_Go to dinner with me. Or a movie. Or… whatever you want." He shrugged, smirking at her._

"_Dean Winchester…" she breathed. "… are you asking me out on a date?"_

"_Elena, I just gave you my mom's bracelet and I told you that you were the one girl in my life I always want to be there. Does it really surprise you that I followed that up with asking you out?" Dean asked, even more amused._

_Elena flushed a deep red and bowed her head._

"_I… I, um…" she stammered, looking at her hands with wide eyes as they came together to twist around each other nervously._

"_Hey…" Dean said, lifting her chin. "No pressure, okay? If you don't want to…"_

"_I want to." She cut him off, embarrassed by how quickly she did so. "But… Dean I'm not really your type."_

_He grinned at her._

"_And I'm not really your type, am I?" he said._

_Elena bit her lip, not so sure about his question. If she had such a big crush on him, he had to be her type, right?_

"_I'm not one of your… flavors, Dean. I've never even been on a date before. I won't…" he cut her off with a finger on her lips._

"_You're not one of my flavors." He agreed. "You're Elena, my best friend and you know I would kick my own ass before I hurt you, right?" _

_She sighed, knowing that he did care for her, unlike all of the other girls._

"_The town won't like it much. Sweet little innocent Elena Gilbert dating bad boy Dean Winchester." She commented dryly._

"_Screw 'em. I don't give a shit." He shrugged._

_A smile slowly bloomed across her face. There was the Dean she knew and loved._

"_A date?" she asked._

"_That might lead to more dates." He replied, wanting to leave their options open._

"_No sex. No groping. Maybe handholding… maybe." Elena said, setting guidelines._

"_Agreed." Dean nodded._

"_You'll be a perfect gentleman?" She questioned._

"_You might as well call me Sammy, I'll be so gentlemanly." He agreed._

_She let out a slight laugh._

"_I can't believe this is happening." Elena admitted._

"_What? You thought your crush on me would go unrequited?" he asked teasingly._

_Her eyes widened and she flushed deeply once again._

"_What… you… how… what?" she stuttered, taken by surprise._

"_You really didn't think I knew? Come on, Elena. No one blushes that much." he said with a grin._

"_You… ass!" she squealed, embarrassed that he apparently knew all along._

_Elena leaned in, hitting him wherever she could find. He laughed, squirming away from her hits and finally grabbing her arms to hold her still. As soon as she complied, he pulled her in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. When he drew away she stared at him, stunned._

"_You kissed me." she whispered._

"_I did. And I plan on doing it again. So get used to it." he said, smirking at her before standing up just as John walked into the room with everyone following him._

"_Let's get going, Dean, leave these people to their peace." The Winchester patriarch said._

"_It was a great night, John. Let's do it again soon." Grayson said, shaking his hand._

"_You should come over to our house. We'll grill some burgers up." John said._

"_That sounds great." Miranda said with a smile, taking her husband's hand._

"_C'mon, boys." _

_Dean swaggered off of the stairs, walking towards the door._

"_Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, for dinner." Sam said, smiling at them._

"_You're always welcome, Sam." Miranda said._

"_Thanks." Dean nodded at them._

"_No problem, son." Grayson said, clapping his hand on his shoulder._

_Just before he walked out, Dean glanced at Elena who'd finally stood on the stairs. He gave her his brightest grin and winked at her before walking out, shutting the door behind him. Her mother, father, and sister faced her with questioning looks._

_"What was that all about?" Miranda asked._

_Elena looked at them with a wide-eyed, wondrous look on her face._

"_I'm going on a date with Dean Winchester." She said softly before grinning._

_The last thing they saw was the sparkling look in her eyes before she turned and ran upstairs. Katherine glanced at her parents before grinning and following her sister to get all of the details. Miranda and Grayson exchanged a wide-eyed look, unsure of what to think about this new development._

* * *

"That's… it's…" Elena stammered out.

He stared at her, his eyes soft.

"You don't have to explain anything, Elena. All I know is what I see and I can see it in your eyes. You're not happy." Dean said.

She sighed, stepped away from him and pulling her wrist out of his hand.

"I've got a family, Dean. I… I can't." she said, turning to walk away.

Then she glanced back at him.

"You can keep running, Dean, or you can face it and let it go. It's your choice." She said before walking off.

Dean sighed, rubbing his cheek as he turned to walk in the opposite direction, her words rattling in his head.

* * *

When Dean pulled up to the mine, his eyes narrowed. The deputy, the one he didn't know, Saltzman or something, was shaking hands with one of the mine managers before he got in his squad car and drove off. Dean climbed out just as he did, watching the officer go. He walked up to the mine manager, Riggs, who looked at him with confusion.

"Dean? What the hell you doing here?"

"Is Bobby here? I need to talk to him." Dean answered.

"You can't. He's down in the mine."

"I'm going down." Dean said without hesitation, turning to walk into the mine.

"Like hell you are." The other man said, stopping him. "It's not safe."

Dean scoffed, smirking.

"I grew up in these mines, Riggs. I think I'll be fine."

The older man rolled his eyes before leading Dean into the mine to get him dressed appropriately.

"Who's bleeding the lines on 3?" Riggs called as they approached the track for the minecars.

A familiar man turned and raised his hand. Dean pressed his lips together when he saw the man's wrapped up fighting hand.

"Red'll take you down."

The man smirked, looking like Christmas had come early. Dean rolled his eyes at his luck and walked forward, putting on a hardhat with a flashlight on it. They sat as far apart as they could in the car as it went down the track. Dean couldn't help himself, the family trait of being an asshole coming out in him as they came to a stop.

"How's the hand?" he asked, causing the other man to glare over at him.

"Just don't touch anything." Red snapped as they climbed out. "I'll call for Bobby."

Dean glanced around as the miner picked up the phone.

"Yeah. Hey, send Bobby to tunnel 3. He's got a visitor." Red said.

There was a moment of silence as Dean stared at a cage a few feet away from them.

"What the hell do you mean?" Red suddenly demanded. "Well, go and get him, then. Stupid ass."

Slowly, without really paying attention, Dean walked towards the cage. Red was facing away so he didn't see what Dean was doing. Words echoed in Dean's head as he walked.

"_We'll rescue Trainor down below. You venom and methane in 5, all right?"_

Dean reached the cage, looking around.

"_I know my job, Alastair."_

"_Like fuck you do."_

Dean glanced into the cage, finding it empty minus a bit of equipment. Feeling something behind him that made the hairs prickle on the back of his neck, he whirled around to see a familiar miner in a gas mask standing there holding a pickaxe. He suddenly launched at Dean, slashing the weapon through the air. He stumbled away but it managed to catch his arm, slicing through the clothing and into the skin. The miner continued attacking him, finally throwing him back into the cage. Dean hit his head hard on the ground and his vision blackened as he fell unconscious. Moments later, he woke up to find himself on the ground with his hardhat gone.

He looked around wildly and found it, putting it back on his head. He scrambled up to his knees and tried to push the door open. It was no use and he found that the lock was bent into keeping the door shut. He glanced around before turning to warn Red. Right outside of the cage, the miner was looking at him, on his knees as well. Dean couldn't see past the goggles into his eyes but his entire body ran cold as the deep breathing filled his ears. Slowly, he climbed up to his feet with the miner mimicking his movements. After a moment of staring at each other, the miner turned to walk in the direction where Red was still on the phone.

"Well, you know what? You couldn't find your ass with both hands." Red growled into the phone.

Dean was frozen, unable to move or speak as sweat poured out of his pores and his hands shook. He was literally paralyzed with fear, all of his nightmares over the last five years coming true.

"Listen…" Red cut off, finally sensing a presence behind him.

He turned to see the miner there.

"What do you want?" he asked, staring him up and down without recognition.

Dean wanted to scream and yell for the other miner to run but he still couldn't find his voice. The miner reared back and swung the pickaxe, causing Red to bring up his arm to protect him. The sharp end went right through his arm, causing him to scream loudly at the pain. Without pulling it out, the man slammed his fist into the miner's face area and caused him to let go of the pickaxe.

"Son of a bitch!" Red yelled, pulling it out.

Dean finally unfroze, running to the door to try to get it open again. He pushed and tugged but it wouldn't budge. Suddenly an alarm began sounding and Dean heard distant voices coming towards them.

"You're dead, motherfucker." Red yelled as he fought the miner.

He had control of the weapon and had the attacker on the ground. He kept swinging at him but the miner was just dodging the axe. Finally, Red managed to get him pinned down. He swung the axe but the murderer's leg came up, stopping his arm. Then he shoved back and the momentum caused the pickaxe to swing straight into Red's forehead. The miner stood as the bigger man fell to his knees. Planting his foot on Red's chest, the attacker yanked the pickaxe out and Red fell to the ground, dead.

The miner stood over the body for a moment before looking at Dean. He began to walk towards him and Dean turned back to the door, yanking on it desperately as he was certain that it was his turn to receive the deathblow. Part of him wondered why the hell he even came in these mines but the other part of him knew that it all had to do with a dark eyed, dark haired female.

"Red!" he heard Riggs yell.

He glanced up to the see that the miner was nowhere in sight. Several men ran out from the direction of the tracks.

"Jesus Christ." Riggs said, staring down at Red's body in horror.

"What you got?" another man asked. "Oh, fuck."

"Is he dead?" one of the miners asked as Riggs knelt at his body to feel his pulse.

"Riggs! Is he dead?"

Dean rattled the cage, finally finding his voice.

"Get me out of here!" he yelled.

"What happened?" Riggs demanded, walking up to the cage with the men following him with accusing glares.

"Get me out of here." Dean pleaded desperately, clutching his bleeding arm. "Come on."

Riggs attempted to open the door but found that he couldn't.

"It's jammed. Give me a hand." He grunted.

A miner came forward with a hammer and attempted to wrench it open.

"Get me the fuck out of here!" Dean snapped, relieved when the door finally opened.

He stumbled out and Riggs grabbed his shoulders, shaking him.

"What'd you do, Dean?" the older man demanded. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Dean said defensively, his eyes wide with panic.

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed it with the flashbacks into the beginning of Dean and Elena's relationship. Let me know what you think! Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD, Supernatural, or My Bloody Valentine. All rights go to respective owners.**

**Thanks to colleenrawr, SwanQueen4055, DrawingMyHeartOut, CherrySin, xxPaige23xx, Dean Winchester Rocks, and MermaidPrincessAly for reviewing! **

**1. Okay so this chapter might ruin the story and I apologize in advance if it does. Obviously, since I am not writing a thirty chapter story, I'm having to rush some things along quicker than I'm used to. So I might have movd things too fast in this chapter and I'm really sorry if I did. I'm worried about it but please tell me if you don't like it.**

**2. Elena's outfit is on my profile.**

* * *

Elena was biting her lip as she looked around the bar. It had been four hours since her talk with Dean and she was still on edge about it. The door to the bar opened and she looked over to see Caroline and Bonnie walking in with Jeremy holding Caroline's hand.

"What's going on?" she asked, confused.

Jeremy should have been in school as well as her two friends. Both Caroline and Bonnie worked at the elementary school.

"The school closed early. We thought we would bring him here since we wanted to come see you anyways." Bonnie said as Jeremy detached from Caroline and ran at her.

"Mommy!" he said happily, leaping into her arms.

"Hey little man." she said, bending down and hugging him.

"Why did it close? What happened?" Elena questioned, looking up at her best friends.

"Nothing happened except for… well… you know. People are being paranoid. They don't want their kids going out without them. So over half of the school didn't show up. They just sent all the kids home until this is taken care of. So tell Damon to get his ass into gear, would you?" Caroline sighed, sliding onto a barstool.

Elena gave her a severe look, not liking when anyone cursed in front of Jeremy.

"You hungry, Jer?" she asked, lifting him up and setting him at a table.

He nodded as he pulled off his backpack.

"How are you doing, Lena? We saw Dean." Bonnie said, sitting next to Caroline as Elena pulled out some animal crackers and a juice box for Jeremy.

"I'm fine." She shrugged, opening them up and handing them to Jeremy.

She walked behind the bar and began wiping it down despite the fact that it was perfectly clean.

"Yeah, you're fine." Caroline scoffed.

"Well what am I supposed to say? That I was shocked that my ex-boyfriend came back to town after five years? That I'm all right with the three murders that have happened in the town that my family is supposed to be safe in? Possibly by the same man who murdered my sister? No, I'm not fine. But you know what? Neither is anyone else so why should I be any different from them?" Elena demanded, throwing the towel onto the bar and putting her elbows on the counter.

She buried her face in her hands and sighed deeply, fighting back her emotions. Caroline and Bonnie sighed, knowing that there was nothing that they could say to make her feel better. They saw movement out of the corner of their eye and looked to see Jeremy getting up and walking around the bar.

"Mommy?"

Elena looked down to see Jeremy standing there, looking up at her with his wide eyes.

"Yeah, little man?" she asked, crouching down.

He put his arms around her neck and hugged her, making her smile slightly through the pain and sadness.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Mommy." He said.

"Thank you." Elena breathed, hugging him back.

She stood up, still holding him to her.

"How about this? We have Valentine's candy in our car that isn't going to be used today. How about we go to the hospital and give it all to the sick and hurt people so that we can give them a happy v-day?" Caroline said, grinning.

Elena smiled hesitantly, nodding.

"Does that sound good, Jer?" she asked.

"Yep!" he nodded.

"I have a few hours until the bar opens for the night." She said, putting him down.

* * *

They walked into the hospital holding several paper bags of Valentine's candy. Jeremy was holding Elena's hand as he sucked on a red heart lollipop.

"We'll go hit up the patients. You go to the nurse's station." Caroline said, veering off with Bonnie.

"But…" Elena sighed, looking down at Jeremy. "It's just you and me, kid."

He grinned up at her, his mouth and chin all stained bright red from the sucker. They walked to the nurse's station and immediately found a few doctors and nurses gathered in there. Dr. Meredith Fell, Alaric's girlfriend, spotted Elena and Jeremy first.

"Well what do we have here?" she asked, smiling at them.

"We brought candy." Jeremy announced proudly.

Elena grinned down at him before setting the paper bag on the counter.

"Go crazy." She said.

"That's quite the public service, Elena." Meredith said with a grin, reaching out to hug her.

They were good friends mostly because of the amount of time that their other halves spent with each other.

"You know me, I'm big on public service." She said with a grin.

"Hello, Jeremy." Meredith said, squatting in front of him.

He immediately reached out and touched her stethescope. Elena heard a muffled voice and glanced into the emergency trauma room to see Dean sitting on one of the beds. He was wearing a sleeveless black undershirt and a doctor was sewing up a jagged cut on his arm. Bobby was in there talking to Dean.

"Meredith, could you watch Jeremy for a second?" she asked, already moving to the door.

"Yeah of course, I'm on break anyways." Meredith said, glancing up to see where she was going.

Elena pushed the door open and paused, watching Dean and Bobby interacting.

"Where the hell were you?" Dean demanded of the older man without noticing her hovering at the door.

"I was in tunnel 3." Bobby sighed, looking at him hesitantly. "We found Red."

Elena bit her lip nervously, wondering what Bobby meant.

"It was Alastair Warden." Dean said with fear trembling in his voice.

Her blood ran cold. If Dean was mentioning… _him_… that meant that someone else was killed.

"Dean. Come on." Bobby sighed.

"He attacked me and then I sat there and I watched him kill Red." Dean said, desperate for Bobby to agree with him.

"You know how crazy that sounds?" he countered, raising his eyebrow at the younger man.

"It's fucking nuts, okay? I know that. But he was there and he tried to kill me." Dean said, gesturing forcefully with his hands.

"Sir, please. relax." The nurse urged with exasperation as she tried to work around his movements.

She gave Bobby a frustatrated look to express that he wasn't helping her patient keep calm. Elena finally decided to move forward and demand to know what happened.

"Okay. You can get your shirt back on now." The nurse said, putting a bandage over the stitched up wound.

"Thank you." Dean sighed, standing up as she walked off.

"Dean, exactly what did you see?" Bobby questioned, glancing over at Elena once she walked up.

Dean caught sight of her before he answered the question.

"What happened to you?" she asked, concern on her face.

He looked her up and down, his face softening slightly but the fear still etched into his eyes.

"He was attacked." Bobby said when it looked like Dean wouldn't say anything.

Elena's heart stuttered as another chill ran down her spine.

"By who?" she said, her eyes wide.

"Nobody." Dean said, pulling his black t-shirt over his head.

"Alastair Warden." Bobby sighed, shaking his head. "It happened in the mine."

He walked to a chair and sat in it as Elena processed this information. She looked at Dean with a slightly saddened face.

"What were you doing in the mine?" she asked softly, stepping forward to stand by the bed.

Dean leaned forward slightly, his body reacting to hers.

"I was gonna tell Bobby that I'm not selling it." he replied.

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, unspoken words passing between them that neither Elena nor Dean really understood. They both jumped slightly when the curtain swept aside to reveal Damon there in his uniform with an accusing look on his face.

"And why the hell not?"

Elena pushed away from the table, feeling guilty at getting caught though she didn't really know why. Was it all that wrong to express concern for Dean's safety? She turned away from Damon for a moment, walking away from the table. She could feel both men's eyes on her back.

"You find something in town that's suddenly worth staying for?" Damon questioned.

She turned back, biting her lip as she faced them.

"Damon…" Dean nodded at him, smirking slightly like he always used to do.

Before it was endearing to Elena. Hell, she even loved his ridiculous smirks.

"… you were always jealous of me and Elena." he said.

Damon glanced at her, anger flashing in his eyes. She sighed, knowing that this was going to escalate very quickly.

"You mean my fiance Elena?" he said, stepping towards her.

Dean rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. She knew that an alpha show of ownership was about to happen and she stepped away from Damon, wanting none of that. It didn't matter who she was in a relationship with, no one owned her.

"Who lives in my house?" Damon continued without missing a beat. "Who I share a bed with and have sex with?"

His voice raised as he spoke, almost at a shouting level.

"Damon! Enough!" Elena snapped loudly, watching with horror as Jeremy walked in with Meredith, obviously wanting to find her.

"That Elena?" Damon demanded, glaring at Dean.

"Enough!" Elena snapped, making him face her.

She gave him a warning look before pushing past him to hurry to Jeremy. Meredith gave her an apologetic look for allowing Jeremy to come in. She felt Dean's eyes on her back as she did so but Jeremy was her ultimate concern at the moment.

"You okay?" she asked, stroking his hair soothingly.

He nodded, though his eyes were wide.

"Why is Damon yelling at that man?" he asked in a soft voice.

"It's nothing for you to worry about, honey." She said soothingly, kissing his forehead. "Let's go."

She stood to pull him out but Damon's voice stopped her.

"Don't leave. You need to be here for this too." He said.

Damon was using his sheriff voice on her, which he knew she hated. She turned towards him with a glare on her face, taking Jeremy's hand.

"Lena?" Caroline's voice interrupted them.

She turned to see her and Bonnie in there looking concerned.

"Hey, can you take Jeremy? There's some stuff I have to take care of." Elena said, walking towards them with Jeremy.

"Yeah, I'll take him to your parents?" Caroline said.

"Great, thank you so much." she sighed.

"Mommy! I don't want to go." Jeremy said, looking afraid.

He didn't like it when adults shouted for some reason and he was probably afraid to leave her with Damon and Dean when they were obviously at odds with each other even to the child's eyes.

"It's okay, little man. You're gonna go see Grandma and Grandpa. They'll have cookies for you and milk. You love cookies and milk. Do it for me?" she asked, squatting in front of him.

He nodded unwillingly, his eyes wide.

"Thanks. I love you, Jer." She said, stroking his cheek with a soft smile.

"I love you too, Mommy." He said, leaning in and pressing wet kiss to her lips.

She smiled at him and stood, letting Caroline and Bonnie lead him out. Then she turned and walked back to the group, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Alastair Warden, right? He attacked you." Damon questioned Dean in a calmer voice, knowing that Elena would berate him if he used anything but.

"Yeah." Dean nodded, not bothering to hide the hostility from his voice.

It wasn't really surprising to anyone there. He always had a hard time hiding his true feelings about people, especially Damon. It also wasn't surprising to see that their old rivalry was already flaring up, even worse so with Elena in the room.

"Besides the fact that he's been dead for ten years, how comes no one else saw him?" Damon asked skeptically.

"I don't know, Sheriff, but I was there." Dean shot back, crossing his arms. "I saw him."

Damon shook his head, scoffing and stepping closer.

"You know, this town's in a frenzy because of you. I'm gonna put an end to that right now." He said.

His eyes shifted past them to Bobby.

"You want to tell them, or should I?" he asked the older man.

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Bobby shot back, staring at Damon.

"Fine. I'll tell 'em, then. You see, Dean, my dad, who drank himself to death, along with your dad and Bobby here, decided to take the law into their own hands ten years ago."

Elena and Dean both looked at Bobby with wide eyes, taking in Damon's words with shocked looks.

"They killed Alastair Warden."

"Damon." Bobby sighed, moving to stand up.

"And Sheriff Henricksen covered it up." Damon continued. "We couldn't have the town fathers on the hook for vigilante justice."

Elena took in Bobby's wide-eyed look and knew that Damon was telling the truth. So if it wasn't Alastair Warden, who was killing those people? It was plain to see whom Damon thought it was by looking at the accusing looks he was sending Dean.

"You see, Alastair wasn't buried alive in the mine, but he's sure as shit dead and buried. And we're gonna lay that to rest. Aren't we?" he said, looking very proud of himself.

"Damon…" Elena sighed.

"We're going on a little trip to the woods." He said without leaving room for argument. "All of us."

His blue eyes pierced hers. Elena pressed her lips together, glancing at Dean who was looking straight at her. When she looked back at Damon, she saw him looking between her and Dean with a look of suspicion in his eyes.

* * *

Elena was riding in Damon's car on the way to the mine where they were going to start out walking into the forest.

"Elena." he sighed, looking over at her as they pulled up to a stop at the mine.

Dean was stuck riding with Alaric and Bobby and Henricksen were meeting them there to lead them to the grave.

"Save it." she said without waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Elena I'm sorry I lost my temper earlier. Especially in front of Jeremy. If I'd known he was there…" Damon said, reaching out to take her hand.

"I said save it." she snapped, pushing his hand away and climbing out of the car.

"What's you problem?" Damon hissed, climbing out as well.

"My problem is you treating me like a child. Not trusting me and trying to keep me away from Dean when…" she cut off, shaking her head as she heard the others climbing out of their cars.

"When?" Damon urged her to continue, careless of the other ears that could hear their conversation.

She glared at him.

"When I am not the one in this relationship that has given the other any reason to doubt them." She snapped.

Damon's eyes widened slightly and she could see the fear in them. She pushed away from the car and walked to the gathering group, conscious of the several pairs of eyes that were moving back and forth between her and Damon.

"Come on." Damon said, pushing into the trees.

Elena found herself trailing at the back, clutching her coat around her. Dean fell back a little from where he was walking next to Bobby. It was on purpose, she was sure of it. They didn't talk for a few minutes, just listening to the conversation at the front where Alaric, who was carrying a shovel, and Damon were leading the group.

"Where is it?" Damon asked.

"I don't know what you think you're gonna find." Henricksen said skeptically.

"Victor, just show me where the body's buried and we won't have any problems." Damon replied and Elena could hear the exasperation in his voice.

"Once we find the old escape hatch, it's just beyond there." Bobby said.

"Sheriff, you really think that dangling a set of decade-old bones in the town square is gonna clear up these murders?" Henricksen questioned.

"No, but it'll stop people from thinking the boogey man is back. And then I can get on with my investigation." Damon replied, glancing back at Dean with suspicion on his face.

Dean didn't dwell on his glare too long, looking over at Elena who was biting her lip hard as she stepped over logs and rocks.

"You okay?" he asked.

She looked up, surprised at the softness and tenderness of his voice even though she knew she shouldn't have been. He always spoke to her like that. Suddenly a memory invaded her mind of another time he was so soft with her.

_Elena ran up to the door, tears streaming down her face. Her fist came down on it several times as she let out a sob. It opened and John was standing there looking surprised._

"_Elena." he said, looking alarmed at her appearance._

"_Is… is Dean here?" she choked out, her lip trembling._

"_Yeah, yeah come on it." he said._

_She stumbled into the entryway and huddled her arms around herself._

"_Dean!" he yelled up the stairs._

"_What?" her boyfriend's voice came floating down._

"_Someone here to see you." he said gruffly._

_He turned to Elena and patted her arm comfortingly._

"_You let me know if there's anything you need, all right?"_

_She nodded, a fresh wave of tears coming. Dean came stomping downstairs but as soon as he caught sight of her distressed look, he rushed to her side._

"_What's wrong? What happened? Who's ass am I kicking?" he demanded as John walked out of the room to leave them alone._

"_I'm… Katherine… parents… fight." She choked out, wailing in his arms._

"_Shh… come on." he helped her upstairs to his room._

_She immediately sat on his bed and collapsed in his arms as soon as he put them around her. Dean laid back and she curled into his chest, releasing her tears into his t-shirt. He didn't rush her into talking about it, just murmuring soothing words into her ear as he stroked her long hair. Finally, after several minutes, she managed to sit up and wipe her eyes. He sat up as well, staring at her. She looked at him with a devastated look._

_"Katherine just found out she's pregnant." Elena finally said._

_Dean looked shocked._

_"Damn. I thought your sister was more careful than that." he admitted._

"_So did I." Elena said, fighting back more tears. "She told me first and I went with her to tell our parents. They got in this huge fight. Kat won't tell any of us who the father is. They threatened to send her to Uncle John's if she didn't tell them but she still refused. She left, running off and leaving me alone with them. Mom was crying and Dad had to go into his study to be alone."_

_Dean reached out and stroked her cheek._

"_I'm sure it'll all be okay, Elena. I know it won't be right now but at some point, everything will be fine. It's not the end of the world, okay?" he said softy with understanding._

"_I just don't want them to hate each other. I don't want my niece or nephew to grow up not knowing his grandparents just because they can't be in a room without fighting. I know how some families fall apart because of this kind of shit and I don't want that to happen to mine." She said, putting her hand over his to feel its warmth on hers. _

_Dean pulled her in and pressed a kiss to her lips, a soft, sweet, lingering kiss._

"_I will be here for you no matter what, okay?" he assured her._

_She looked into his open, beautiful green eyes._

"_Forever?" she asked quietly._

"_Longer." he countered, smiling slightly._

_She looked down at his shirt._

"_I'm so sorry, I made it all wet." She said regretfully, looking truly devastated at that._

"_It's no problem." Dean shrugged, peeling it off and tossing it across the room._

_A slow smile spreaded across her face at the sight of his quite naked and muscular torso._

"_I knew I could make you smile." he said proudly._

_Elena let out a soft giggle and pushed him back on the bed, bending over him. Her hair formed a curtain over their faces as they kissed each other deeply._

"_Thank you." she whispered, pulling away and looking him in the eyes as he tucked her hair behind her ear._

"_It's no problem." He shrugged._

_She sighed and curled into him again, putting her head on his chest and listening to his thumping heart._

"_You know it's probably not a good idea for you to stay here. Your parents'll probably think you're busy making another Gilbert to join the family." He said and she could hear the smirk on his face._

"_Shut up." She said, slapping his stomach half-heartedly._

Elena pulled herself out of the memory, still staring at him.

"I'm fine." She finally said, turning her head away as she stared at the ground.

She could feel his eyes still on hers but neither of them could say anything else as Alaric's voice rang through the air.

"Found the hatch!"

"Yeah. Yeah, this is where we found him." Bobby confirmed as they all walked up to the fenced in hatch "Bleeding at the hatch."

"Over here." Alaric's voice said from another clearing through the trees.

Elena walked behind everyone and they saw a grave that had obviously been vacant for a while. She shivered as her eyes widened.

"I found it. Or what used to be it." the deputy said.

"What the hell is this?" Damon demanded, looking at Bobby and Victor.

"Animals must have got at him." Henricksen said.

"Animals? Was he dead or not when you buried him?" the sheriff snapped, glaring between them.

Elena looked at Dean with wide eyes, who looked just as fearful and confused as she did.

"Damn right he was dead." Bobby confirmed. "There was no pulse. There was no life left in him at all, right?"

He looked at Henricksen for confirmation.

"I shot him." the former sheriff confirmed. "I shot the son of a bitch dead."

"Yeah, we buried him right here." Bobby nodded, gesturing to the vacated grave. "It was a better burial than he deserved."

"And you're sure he was dead, Bobby?" Alaric confirmed.

He looked between him and Damon hesitantly.

"There's no way he could be alive." He said.

"Fuck." Damon snapped, kicking at a stone as he put his hands on his hips with fury in his eyes.

"I want statements from the both of you." he said, pointing between Bobby and Victor.

"And you…" Elena's head snapped up when she saw Damon point at Dean. "I want you back at the station now. We got a dead miner to discuss."

She looked at Dean with a sympathetic look. His eyes flickered to her and softened once again. He opened his mouth to say something but Damon's voice interrupted him.

"Come on, Elena."

She sighed, pressing her lips together and giving him a nod before turning to walk off with Damon.

"Come on, gentlemen." Alaric said, wanting everyone to stay together just in case.

Dean walked past him but turned back with a look of suspicion.

"What were you doing at the mine earlier?" he asked, remembering that the deputy was there right before Red was killed.

"I was doing my job." Alaric replied without hesitation.

He pointed at Dean with accusation.

"You're the suspect. Not me." he said.

* * *

"Thank you so much, Ellen. You don't know how much I appreciate it." Elena sighed into the phone as she paced outside of the police station.

"It's no problem, sweetie. Is everything all right?" the older woman asked.

"No, not it's not. Damon is questioning Dean for the murders. Who knows what's going on in that interrogation room. I feel like I'm responsible because I know if it weren't for me, Damon wouldn't be acting like such a dick towards Dean. He's got the worst jealous tendencies." She sighed.

"Did it ever occur to you that he has a reason to be jealous?" Ellen asked.

"What does that mean?" Elena said, furrowing her brow.

"Honey anyone with eyes can see that Dean is just as in love with you now as he was five years ago. Damon isn't just seeing nothing, you know?" the other female said knowingly.

Elena sighed, shaking her head.

"Even if that's true, Ellen…."

"Don't start with me, Elena. You tell me right now that you feel nothing for that Winchester boy." She said.

Elena bit her lip, really wanting to say that she didn't feel anything for Dean because that would make everything a thousand times easier.

"I have to go, Ellen. Thanks again for handling the bar tonight." She sighed before hanging up and turning back to the station.

She walked inside and to Alaric's desk.

"Damon's talking to Dean?" she asked, sitting in a chair.

"Yeah sure… talking." He said, giving her a knowing look.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"You, uh… you have Dean's stuff, right?"

Alaric looked at her with a knowing look.

"Elena." he said in a warning tone.

"All I'm saying is that you wouldn't let him go into that interrogation room with his phone and his keys." She said.

"Elena I can't let you…"

"Alaric please, Dean has no one on his side. He is here all alone out in the cold with everyone in town accusing him of murder. All I want to do is call someone who can be here for him." she said pleadingly.

He sighed and reached down, opening his drawer and pulling out a phone.

"No one in town's on his side, huh?" he asked knowingly.

"Not you too." She said, taking it from him and scrolling through the contacts quickly until she came to a name.

She stood and walked off as the phone dialed the number.

"Dean, hey. What's going on? You okay? I saw the thing on the news about…"

"Sam?" Elena interrupted his speedy talking.

"Oh." His voice said on the other end, confused.

It took him a moment but he seemed to immediately understand who it was.

"Elena?" he questioned.

"Hey, uh… I know that… well I probably shouldn't be calling you." she said, glancing over at Alaric who was watching her as another officer handed him a piece of paper.

A loud shout and a noise suddenly sounded from the back and she knew it came from the interrogation room. She knew that it was Damon and Dean without having to think about it too much.

"Why are you calling me, Elena?" Sam asked.

"Dean's in trouble, Sam. I don't know if you know but… Damon's sheriff now and he's got Dean here. He's interrogating him. Dean needs you. I know you probably can't come on a moment's notice but…"

"I'll be there as soon as I can." He said.

She sighed with relief, hearing the best news she'd heard all day.

"Good. That's good." Elena sighed.

"Hey, Elena." Sam said.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Thanks for calling me. Dean never would have." He said.

"Well that would have been his mistake." She replied, feeling good about her decision to call the younger Winchester.

It was strange to hear him after all these years. She hadn't seen him since graduation, after all.

"I'll see you soon, Elena." he said.

She smiled slightly.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon." She said without a doubt in her mind.

* * *

"I didn't kill the guy in the mine, okay?" Dean said from where he was sitting at the table.

Damon was walking around it, trying to seem threatening.

"I know somebody wants you to think that I did, but I didn't." he tried to convince the sheriff.

He should have known that it would never happen.

"Relax. We'll get to that." Damon said, finally sitting in the chair across from him.

Dean stared across at him, his hands crossed on the table, as he leaned back in the chair.

"So. Why are you really back in town?" the sheriff asked calmly.

He scoffed.

"You know why." He answered.

"No." Damon said, shaking his head. "I don't know why someone would miss their own father's funeral, but show up to sell off his only asset."

Dean smirked at the other man.

"Well, I'm not selling the mine. In fact. I've decided to stay." He said proudly.

Damon stared at him for a moment before nodding once and leaning forward, imitating Dean's position.

"And why is that?" he asked even though he felt that he knew the answer.

Dean stared back, pressing his lips together and swallowing as he considered his words carefully. Damon sighed as a loaded silence filled the room.

"You know she settled for you. Right?" Dean finally said.

Damon smirked before letting out a laugh, shaking his head. Dean's smirk grew more pronounced as he looked back at him.

"My God." Damon said, staring at the table before clearing his throat. "What did you just say to me?"

He looked back up at Dean, who leaned in close and spoke slowly as if speaking to a child.

"Elena settled for…" he was cut off by Damon launching out and slamming his fist across his face.

Dean stumbled out of his seat as Damon flipped the table out of the way.

"Stay the fuck away from my fiance!" the sheriff shouted, shoving him against the wall. "You hear me?"

The door was yanked open and Alaric ran in, struggling to separate the two.

"Stay the fuck away from my fiance!" Damon yelled as he pulled them apart.

"Damon, calm down." He said, getting between them.

"Lock him up, Ric! Lock him up!"

"I can't do that!" the deputy growled, shoving him backwards and away from Dean, who was wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. "The mine foreman confirmed that Dean was stuck in that cage when they came down. Somebody else was down there."

Damon laughed humorlessly, rubbing his forehead.

"That's great." He snapped, moving to walk out of the room. "That's fucking wonderful."

Dean stood still as he heard Damon's fist slam into the wall outside of the room.

"Fuck!" the sheriff shouted.

"Come on." Alaric said, leading him out of the room and towards the front.

Dean stood by the desk as he handed him his keys and wallet.

"Where the hell's my phone?" he demanded.

"Here." He turned to see Elena standing there holding out his phone.

He stared at her for a moment.

"Why'd you have it?" Dean questioned.

She bit her lip, looking slightly guilty.

"I called someone for you." she said softly.

He furrowed his brow at her and pulled it out of her hand rougher than he meant to.

"Who did you call?" he demanded though he felt that he already knew.

There was only one person who she would call in these circumstances.

"Sam." Elena said.

Dean shook his head, looking down before looking back up at her.

"Dammit." He snapped, moving to stomp past her.

"I did it for you, Dean." She said, catching his arm. "You need somebody here with you to help you and Sam can…"

"If I wanted Sam here, I would have called him myself." He growled, whirling around to stare into her eyes.

She stopped short with wide eyes, looking shocked.

"You had no right." he said accusingly.

"I'm worried about you, Dean. I knew that your brother would have wanted to be here for you and I know that you need him here." She said, taken aback by his anger at her.

"Stop!" he said, stepping away from her.

Elena stared at him, looking confused and hurt.

"Stop looking at me like that and stop worrying about me! You keep reminding me that you're engaged and you have a family and yet you keep showing up and doing stuff like you're still in lo…" he cut off, shaking his head.

"Just… stop." He said, pointing at her.

He turned to walk out, pushing past Bobby who'd just entered the station. The older man looked at Elena, who looked devastated and angry with herself. He gave her a sympathetic look before turning to follow Dean.

"You know, you keep pushing people away who care about you, you won't have anyone left." Bobby said, following him into the street as he walked towards his car.

"Jesus, Bobby. I don't need to hear this." Dean said. "She had no right to call Sammy and you know it."

Bobby shook his head, finding that he agreed with Elena that bringing the younger Winchester brother here was the best idea.

"Won't be long before Damon locks you up for good, kid." He warned Dean.

"Just because Damon wants to think that I did it doesn't mean that I did. There was someone else down there." he said as they reached the Impala.

"Yeah. Alastair." Bobby agreed, finally admitting to the possibility that Alastair really was the killer. "But how? Why?"

"I don't know, Bobby. Maybe to finish what he started ten years ago." Dean sighed, leaning against the side of the car door.

Bobby shook his head, looking at the man he cared for as his own son.

"If I were you, Dean, I'd get the hell out of town." He said, wanting him to leave so that he didn't get hurt.

It was obvious that the killer was fixating on Dean.

"No. No, I'm not running this time." Dean said, shaking his head as he climbed into his car. "I'm gonna find him."

"If you don't find him. I'm betting he finds you." Bobby warned him.

"Or you." Dean replied, looking up at him.

* * *

Elena was still standing in the station when Damon came out.

"Shouldn't you be getting to the bar?" he asked.

She cleared her throat, trying to push Dean's angry words to the back of her mind. They hit too far close to home and that's why they hurt so much.

"Ellen's taking over. I'm gonna go stay with Jeremy at home." she said.

"I would feel more comfortable if you stayed at your parents' house." He sighed.

"Well are you going to be here late tonight?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Damon looked at her, mistaking her wide eyes and sad face for a pleading look for him to come home when in fact it was put there by the very man that he knew was still in love with his fiance.

"No, I'm not staying late." He said.

Elena nodded, walking to him.

"I'll wait up for you." she said, leaning forward and kissing his cheek before turning to walk out of the station.

* * *

It was eleven o'clock and she was sitting at their table in pajamas drinking a glass of water when she heard the front door open. Jeremy had already been in bed for several hours and she was stuck in the silence of the house ever since. Damon walked in moments later and hung his belt and jacket on a hook by the doorway. He had a weary look in his eyes and a frown on his face.

"Do you want something to eat?" she asked as he sat at the table.

"No. A scotch would be great." He said.

She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Your father died burying his problems in alcohol, Damon. I'm not gonna let you do that too." She replied, stroking her thumb over his cheek.

"But you'll have a drink with Winchester in front of the entire town, huh?" he asked.

She pulled her hair away as if she'd been stung.

"That doesn't have anything to do with anything." She fired back, staring at him.

He chuckled, shaking his head.

"You know, you really had me fooled. All that 'I am over Dean, I promise' talk. It was really convincing… for a while." Damon said.

"What the hell are you saying?" she snapped, glaring at him.

"Dean is staying in town… officially. I'll give you three guesses as to why. Tell me, what exactly did you say to the guy to make him change his mind from selling the mine and hauling ass out of town to sticking around in less than twenty-four hours?" he asked.

Elena stared back at him, anger in her eyes.

"Stop it, Damon. You're tired. Let's get to bed." She said, wanting to avoid a fight, especially with Jeremy in the house.

She stood and walked to the sink, placing her water in it.

"Why? You don't want to talk about the love of your life that you never got over? You don't want to talk about how he's still in love with you and follows you around like a lost puppy? How about your romantic stroll in the park or the fact that you would have been jumping into bed with him the moment he pulled into town if you weren't wearing my ring on your finger?" Damon growled.

Elena whirled around to see him standing up and glaring back at her.

"You son of a bitch!" she hissed, advancing on him. "**You** do not get to lecture **me** on fidelity."

He scoffed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Damon? Do you think I haven't seen the long line of girls that you meet at your father's old cabin? Do you really think that I don't know who your current flavor of the month is? Do you really think that I haven't experienced the personal humilation every time I wash your clothes and smell the perfume that isn't mine on your clothes?" Elena hissed.

Damon looked shocked, no longer mocking and accusing.

"Elena…" he said.

"Save it!" she said, stomping up to him and yanking the ring off of her finger. "If you're so fixated on the fact that I'm somehow cheating on you, let me cure you of that feeling!"

She shoved it into his chest and shoved past him, hearing the piece of jewelry clatter to the ground.

"If you knew, why the hell didn't you say anything, huh? Did you not care enough or were you fucking someone else too?" Damon yelled.

Elena's stopped short as she reached the stairs. She turned slowly, fury radiating from her body. Damon didn't move as she flew towards him and her hand connected with his cheek.

"You fucking bastard! I wasn't cheating on you! I've never cheated on you! I lived with it, I stayed with you, for my son! I remained here and in this relationship for Jeremy because he was just getting used to this!" she shouted, gesturing between them. "Jeremy needs stability and I wanted to give that to him! I wanted to give him a father! And despite all of your other misdeeds, I had faith that you could be a good father!"

Damon looked at her, shocked at her admission.

"Mommy?"

They both turned to see Jeremy standing on the stairs rubbing his eyes with confusion. Elena sighed, stepping away from Damon.

"I'm sorry we woke you up, Jer." She said, moving up the steps towards him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, blinking up at her.

"No, honey, nothing's wrong. But we're gonna go to Grandma and Grandpa's, okay?" she said, picking him up.

"Elena…" Damon began.

"I'm not having my son around you. Not now." Elena hissed over her shoulder before she walked up the stairs and into Jeremy's room to pack him a bag.

He sat on the bed as she did so.

"Why are we going to Grandma and Grandpa's house?" Jeremy asked innocently.

"I just need to, okay?" she said, stroking his cheek and kissing his forehead. "Come on."

She pulled him into her room so that she could pack her own bag. She threw stuff into it, including her memento box. Then she walked into the bathroom and quickly pulled on other clothing that wasn't pajamas. After putting a jacket and shoes on Jeremy over his pajamas, she took his hand and grabbed both bags, walking downstairs.

"Elena, please…" Damon said as he stood in the entryway.

She immediately caught sight of the scotch in his hand.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow." She said, cutting him off as she opened the door and walked Jeremy out.

* * *

The door opened as she knocked on it and rang the doorbell several times. Jeremy was in her arms almost asleep again. Grayson and Miranda were standing there looking like they were in bed, which they probably were asleep.

"I'm so sorry." Elena murmured, looking regretful at waking them.

"Come in." Miranda said, seeing the distress in her eyes.

She immediately walked upstairs to Jeremy's room at this house and laid him in his bed, putting his bag beside it. She turned off the lights and closed the door before walking back downstairs.

"What's going on?" Grayson asked as they stood in the entryway.

"Damon and I got in a fight. I couldn't have Jeremy there. I couldn't be there." she said, shaking her head.

Miranda's eyes were immediately attracted to her left hand and her eyes widened.

"Oh Elena, honey, I'm so sorry." She said, drawing her into a hug. "Does this have anything to do with Dean?"

Elena pulled away, shaking her head.

"No, Mom. This has everything to do with the fact that Andie is pregnant."

They exchanged a confused look before realization dawned on their faces.

"I'm gonna kill him." Grayson growled, his eyes flashing to the coat closet where his shotgun lived.

"No, Dad. You're not. I just needed to get away." She said, taking her father's hand.

"Well you can stay here tonight, honey." Miranda said, stroking her cheek.

"I think I'm actually gonna go to the bar. I might stay with Caroline tonight. I need to get my mind off things, you know?" she said.

"Of course. We'll watch Jeremy. You go relax." She said, kissing Elena's forehead just like Elena kissed Jeremy's.

"Thank you so much. I'll be back in the morning to take Jer to school." She said, smiling at them before walking to the door.

* * *

When she walked into the bar, Ellen and Jo were obviously surprised at seeing her. Luckily, Andie wasn't working that night so Elena didn't have to face her.

"I didn't expect you." Ellen said as she slipped behind the bar.

"Well I didn't really expect to be here." Elena said, pulling several bottles of liquor off of the shelf.

"What are you doing?" Jo asked, confused.

"I need some comfort." She said simply.

As if her lack of ring was calling to them, both womens' eyes fell on her ring finger at once.

"Holy shit!" Jo said, her eyes wide.

"It's about time." Ellen said.

Elena looked at her with surprise.

"What? You always knew I thought that boy wasn't good enough for you. I'm just glad for whatever was the catalyst."

Elena bit her lip, fighting back tears at the thought. Was her relationship with Damon truly over? It hadn't occurred to her what she'd just done until now.

"Or not." Ellen said, seeing the tears fill her eyes.

"No it's… I don't know. I just… I don't want to talk about it." she said, stepping away as she held the bottles in her arms and turned to walk out.

* * *

She'd started towards Caroline's house, fully intending to go there. But she hadn't calculating passing the Thunderbird motel and seeing the Impala sitting there. She sighed, pulling off and into the parking lot. She pulled into a parking space and stared at the classic car for several minutes, contemplating what she was going to do. The light was on in the motel directly in front of it so she figured that it was Dean's. Finally, Elena picked up her purse and the alcohol that she'd stuck in a paper bag. She slid out of the car and locked it before hesitantly walking to the door. Her hand came down on it twice as her heart pounded. She heard footsteps coming towards it and briefly contemplated running back to her car and peeling out of the parking lot before he saw her.

It opened just as she was about to run and she was sure that her expression was akin to a deer in the headlights. Dean was staring at her with surprise, obviously not expecting for her to be at the door. Then he finally processed it and a frown formed on his face.

"I come bearing gifts." She said, pulling out a whiskey bottle from the bag that she really didn't remember unconsciously grabbing even though she knew that it was his favorite whiskey.

Dean stared at her for a moment before stepping aside, letting her into the motel. She looked around before looking over at him as he closed and locked the door. He remained facing it for a moment before turning to her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked roughly.

"Um… I… I went to the bar and got alcohol. Jeremy is at my parents and uh… I was going to Caroline's and then I passed the Thunderbird and I just sorta, drove up and sat there for a minute. I wasn't even gonna come in but…"

She stopped shaking her head at her own trembling voice. It was occuring to her more and more what she'd actually just done. She'd given her ring back to Damon. The engagement ring. **The** ring. And she gave it back to him without a second thought. She pretty much told him it was over. It was a wonder that Elena wasn't hyperventilating by now.

"Elena?" Dean said, looking confused.

"Damon and I got in a fight. We got in a fight about… about you. It was loud and… messy. I had to take Jeremy to my parents' house and I had to get alcohol. It was a big fight. He thinks I'm still in love with you." she said, staring at him.

He stared at her for a moment.

"And are you… still in…" he didn't finish his question.

Elena sighed, looking down at the bag in her arms.

"I need alcohol." She decided, pulling out a bottle of whiskey and handed it to him with her left hand.

She didn't really know if she did it on purpose or not. But there was no way, no possibilty, that Dean wouldn't notice when he reached out to take it. And he did notice. His eyes fixed on her bare finger immediately.

"Me too." He said, taking it from her and turning to grab two cups.

She set her stuff down in a chair before pulling her jacket off and placing that on the chair as well. Then she walked to the bed, sitting on it hesitantly. Dean brought the cups and sat down as well, about a foot away from her. He poured out one cup and handed it to her before pouring his own cup.

"You hate whiskey, last time I checked." He said, looking up at her.

"I don't care."

And she really didn't. She put the cup to her mouth and titled her head back, drinking it all at once. Dean watched for a moment before taking a slower sip of his own drink.

"So… uh…" he said.

Elena looked at him to see that he was still staring at her finger.

"He accused me of cheating on him." she said.

Dean looked up at her with surprise.

"You didn't." he said confidently.

"No, no I didn't. I wish I could say the same… about him." she said, pouring more whiskey into her cup and drinking it all once again.

"That… he… I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch." Dean growled, sounding pissed.

Elena stared at him with surprise.

"I thought you were mad at me." she said, wanting to change the subject from Damon.

Dean sighed, taking another drink.

"I was." he said without offering further explanation.

"And?" she asked.

"And then you showed up at my doorstep looking like you were about to burst into tears at any second. You looked… you looked like you did that day you showed up at my house when you found out Katherine was pregnant." He said.

She stared at him for a moment.

"More alcohol?" she said simply, holding it out to him.

He nodded, holding his cup out. They sat there in silence for several minutes, drinking and refilling over and over again. It wasn't until they noticed that the bottle was almost empty that Elena spoke.

"Do you want to know what I wish more than anything in the world?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Dean said.

She glanced over at him.

"I wish you hadn't left." Elena admitted, blaming her honesty on the alcohol burning in her chest.

He stared at her for a moment before reaching over and placing his cup on the bedside table. Then he took the bottle and her cup and placed it on the table as well. She watched as he scooted over until he was right next to her. His hand reached out and he hesitantly placed it on her cheek, watching her the whole time for any nonverbal or verbal cues she might give him for how she felt about the situation. Dean began to lean in slowly and she finally blinked and flinched away.

"Dean I can't." she murmured, putting her hand on his with the intent to drag it away.

"Why not?" he whispered.

"Because it wouldn't… it wouldn't be right." she mumbled.

His thumb moved and slowly traced over her lips. This was the closest they'd been since he got back.

"I don't care about right." Dean said softly, moving in as he still stared into her eyes.

Elena couldn't find the strength to stop him again. When their lips met, she felt her entire body erupt in warm goosebumps. Her eyes fluttered closed and she felt heat shoot straight to her lower belly. Dean pressed in closer, deepening the kiss. Elena let out a sharp breath as she moved her hand from his to run through his soft hair. Before she knew it, she was moving to straddle his legs, both of her hands tangling in his hair. His arms went to her back, his hands splaying out and pulling her closer. She opened her lips slightly and her tongue darted out to swipe across his lower lip, tasting the whiskey that was sitting there.

He moaned lightly into her mouth as she nipped at his lower lip with her teeth. His hand lifted and weaved into her hair as his tongue slid out and probed at her lips, encouraging them to allow him entrance. She gave in after a moment, feeling like she was slowly being set aflame as they began to kiss slowly and passionately. One of Dean's hands went to her thigh and the other arm wrapped around her back to secure her against him. Then he flipped them over, settling between her legs as he hovered over her. He stared down at her, his eyes studying her face.

Elena felt her entire body trembling and suddenly had the urge to cry. Not because she'd left Damon, not because everything seemed to be falling apart, and not because there was quite possibly a murderer whose list she was one. But because of how whole this felt. Because of how much she'd missed this man and how much she wanted to never let him go again. Tears did fill her eyes and Dean looked panicked.

"Elena?" he said, swiping one away as it slid down her cheek.

"Dean." She cried, her hands clutching at his hair. "I can't…"

He looked slightly hurt as she cut off and he moved to pull away.

"No." she yanked him back into place with her hand fisted in his shirt.

"I can't lose you again. Not again."

Dean stared at her for a moment, understanding dawning in his eyes.

"I can't lose you again either." He said.

He bent down and pressed his lips to hers again in a tender kiss.

"I'm here." Dean whispered, kissing up her jaw.

"Right here." He nuzzed her neck and then placed a kiss behind her ear.

"Not going anywhere." His hand slid up her thigh and pushed her shirt up a bit, allowing his hand to come in contact with her heated skin.

His thumb swept over her hipbone and she pulled his mouth back to hers.

"Don't leave me." she murmured against his lips.

* * *

**Author's Note: And I am going to leave you with that because I have to go to bed. I hope you enjoyed! Please review!**

**Next chapter is another (more than one actually) death and a certain tall, shaggy haired character shows up.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD, Supernatural, or My Bloody Valentine. All rights go to respective owners.**

**Thanks to CherrySin, xxPaige23xx, SwanQueen4055, Dean Winchester Rocks, MermaidPrincessAly, colleenrawr, and the guest for reviewing!**

**1. The italics at the beginning are a dream.**

**2. Warnings: character death and a sassy Sammy!**

**3. Elena's outfits are on my profile.**

**4. Enjoy!**

* * *

_It was her first night spending the night at house. Jeremy was at her parents' house. She was lying in the bed with him and his arms were around her. Damon was fast asleep, having fallen into his slumber quickly. Elena, however, was wide awake. His arms were wrapped around her. Where they should have been comforting, they were restricting instead. As soon as she closed her eyes, she got the feeling of a different set of arms around her and she inhaled sharply, her eyes popping open again. Slowly, she slid out of Damon's arms and tiptoed out of the room and downstairs. Leaning against the cabinets, she slowly sipped from a cup of water. She heard his footsteps before she saw him walk into the room. _

"_You okay?" Damon said, squinting through the darkness at her._

"_Yeah, I'm just thirsty." She said hoarsely._

_He walked to her, pulling her in. Elena shivered in his arms, trying to get rid of the other set of comforting arms that were ingrained into her mind._

"_What is it?" Damon asked, sensing that something else was wrong._

"_Nothing." She said, putting her cup in the sink._

"_Come to bed?" he asked, not buying it but not pushing it either._

_He learned quickly after the mine incident and Dean's sudden departure from Mystic Falls that pushing Elena was not the best idea. Elena sighed, looking at him._

"_I'm not really all that tired." she said._

_He stared at her for a moment._

"_Elena not two hours ago you were saying how exhausted you were from cleaning the bar from top to bottom today. Come on, tell me what's wrong." Damon said, putting his hands on her cheeks._

_She shifted uncomfortably, looking down._

"_It's him, isn't it?" he asked in a deadpan voice._

"_Damon." Elena sighed, taking his hands and holding them._

"_What will it take, Elena? Getting attacked by a mad man because of his mistake? Check. Your sister dying because of his fuck up? Check. Him not bothering to come to Katherine's funeral? Check. Him skipping out of town without a word never to be heard from again? Check. Seriously, Elena, what's keeping you attached to him, huh? Because from what I can see, he's not worth ever thinking about again!" he snapped._

"_You don't understand." Elena said, her lip trembling._

"_You're right. I don't. So why don't you enlighten me?" Damon demanded, anger flashing in his eyes. "What do I have to do to make you forget him and focus on our relationship?"_

_She looked at him, taking deep breaths._

"_I don't want to talk about this." she said softly, moving past him._

_Damon watched as she walked to the couch and pulled the blanket that was lying on it over her. He knew where the blanket was from. She'd brought it over with her from her parents' house. It was the one that was lying on her bed for her whole life. He knew that she'd probably cuddled with him underneath it. He knew that it smelled like Dean and that's why Elena wanted to keep it with her. Because at some point it would stop smelling like him. Damon would wait until it stopped smelling like the other man. He would wait until he was the one who could comfort her to sleep._

* * *

Elena's eyes popped open as the last images of that dream/memory flashed across her vision. There was a warm body next to her, two strong arms wrapped around her and her face was pressed into a soft, well-worn t-shirt. She inhaled deeply, immediately recognizing the scent as the one that had eventually faded from her blanket. Elena almost immediately relaxed, the events of the past few days slowly but surely coming back to her. That was when she realized that sun was pouring in through the gaps in the curtains of the motel room. As soon as that occurred to her, a loud knock sounded on the door. She sat up quickly, her eyes darting around to take in her surroundings.

"What?" Dean mumbled sleeping, reaching for her to pull her back into a cuddling position.

"Shit!" Elena yelled, scrambling off of the bed and diving for her purse that was still on the chair underneath her jacket.

She was thanking her lucky stars that she was still clothed. They hadn't gotten much further than kissing the previous night before they both fell asleep in each other's arms. A few more loud knocks sounded on the door as Dean sat up with a confused look.

"Shit, shit… fuck!" Elena cursed as she pulled out her phone and saw that it was 11:34 in the morning.

"Who's at the door?" Dean said.

"I don't know. I have to go. Jeremy is with my parents and I…" she cut off, shaking her head as she searched around the room for her belongings.

Dean slid out of bed and stumbled to the door, pulling it open.

"Well it's about time. Why the hell weren't you answering your phone? I had to go to Bobby's to get your… oh!" Elena froze at the voice and turned slowly from where she was shoving her shoes on to see Sam standing in the doorway.

He looked older and taller and much more filled out.

"Hey, Sammy." Dean said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he couldn't help but grin at his little brother.

Elena sighed, pulling her sleep-destroyed hair into a semi-decent ponytail. Then she ran to the chair and pulled her coat on quickly, grabbing her purse as Sam stepped into the room. She turned in time to see a hand connected to Sam that led to a tall, beautiful, curly-haired blonde girl.

"Elena." Sam said, smiling at her.

His smile was warm and comforting, just like it had always been.

"Hi Sam." she sighed, smiling back at him.

Her eye met the blonde's and Sam remembered that they didn't know each other.

"Oh… Jess this is Elena. Elena this is my fiance, Jess." He said, introducing them.

"It's so nice to meet you." Elena said, holding out her hand. "I'm so sorry to run out on you but I have a kid to take care of that I left with my parents. I, uh…"

She pushed herself up onto her toes and gave Sam kiss on his cheek in greeting.

"A kid?" he questioned.

"I have custody of Jeremy." She explained before turning to Dean.

"I'll see you later?" it was more of a question than a statement.

"Oh, uh… yeah." He nodded, smiling slightly.

"Right, later." She said, stumbling backwards and through the door, blushing slightly.

She felt like a fifteen-year-old girl with a crush all over again. As she reached her car, she fumbled with her keys for a few moments before opening it, finally climbing in. Her eyes lifted in time to see Dean shutting the door. Their gazes met and she smiled slightly, unable to keep the look off of her face. He smiled tenderly back, nodding at her before shutting the door.

* * *

When Elena pulled up to her parents' house, she practically leapt out of her car. She was apologizing before she even came through the door.

"Elena, it's fine." Miranda assured her. "Caroline was kind enough to call us and remind us that there wasn't any school today because it was cancelled. Jeremy is playing with his Grandpa in the study."

Her mother smiled at her, stroking her cheek.

"Now… do you want to tell me why Caroline had no idea where you were last night?" she asked.

Elena flushed, her eyes widening.

"I wasn't exactly… with Caroline." She admitted.

"Well I figured that much out. Were you with the Winchester boy?" Miranda asked, leading her into the living room to sit down.

"He's not exactly a boy anymore, Mom. He's twenty-five." Elena sighed.

"Is that a yes?" the older woman asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No." Elena said, avoiding her gaze.

Miranda put her hand on her cheek and guided her face to look in her eyes.

"Elena you know that I have never doubted your morality. You are a good person and I have faith that you will make the right decisions in the end, be it with Damon or with Dean. You just have to remember to do your best not to be cruel, even if the person you're facing has been cruel to you." she said softly.

Elena sighed, taking her mother's hand.

"To be honest, and it took me forever to admit this to myself, I haven't been in love with Damon for a long time. I don't know if I ever actually was. I wanted to badly for Jeremy to have a normal family that I was willing to ignore whatever transgressions I found out Damon committed. I was willing to give up my happiness for his. He was just starting to get used to Damon and I didn't see any other options. And then…"

"And then Dean came back into town." Miranda guessed.

She nodded and sighed.

"I just don't know what I'm thinking right now. It's all messed up, you know?" Elena said.

"I think that you knew that yours and Damon's relationship was bound to end before Dean ever stepped foot back in Mystic Falls. He was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I also think that, no matter how cruel he's been, Damon deserves an explanation." Her mother said.

Elena nodded.

"You're right." she agreed.

"I just made sandwiches. How about you get cleaned up and then take one to Damon for lunch? I know they're probably holed up at that station trying to solve this Alastair Warden thing." Miranda said, standing up.

Elena sighed, standing as well.

"Pack one for Alaric too." She requested before going upstairs to take a shower.

* * *

When she arrived at the station, it was in full chaos. Phones were ringing and officers were running all over the place. Damon was yelling at someone over the phone when she walked in.

"I know the picture's ten years old, but that's all that we have." He said with frustration. "Yeah, I know every store in the state are selling the candy boxes, but send Alastair Warden's photo anyway!"

He glanced up and his eyes betrayed his surprise when he saw Elena walking up to his desk with a paper bag.

"Who knows? We might get lucky. Just make this happen." Damon hung up the phone and looked at her.

"Elena." he said, looking like he was about to apologize and beg for forgiveness just like he always did when he was a dick to her.

"Thought I'd bring you some lunch." She interrupted him, setting the bag on his desk. "There's some in there for Ric too."

"Thanks Elena." the deputy said, on the phone as well.

Damon looked at her.

"Have you seen Dean?" he asked simply.

She stared at him.

"I'm not getting into this with you, Damon. Not here." She snapped.

"I'm not asking because of that. Gordon Walker's missing."

Elena stared at him, pressing her lips together.

"This isn't a game, Elena." Damon snapped. "People are dead, and Dean is the only one without an alibi."

"Dean said somebody else was in…"

"The fuck there was!" Damon shouted, slamming his hands on his desk.

"Shit!" Elena yelled back, putting her hands to her head as her heart pounded because of his outburst.

Damon pointed at her, shaking his head.

"What is with you two?" he demanded.

Elena glared back at him.

"If you need an alibi for him for last night, I can provide that." she snapped, glaring back at him.

Damon looked shocked as if he really wasn't expecting that admission.

She shook her head, stepping away from the desk.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Nothing happened but we were together. I came to talk to you, Damon. We need to talk." She said.

"Well I don't really have time to discuss the particulars of our breakup, Elena. Can we sort out the details later?" he said, glaring at her.

Elena opened her mouth to fire something back at him but Alaric interrupted him when he ran up.

"Sheriff." He said.

"What is it?" Damon said, taking his eyes off of Elena.

"We found Gordon." Ric said, sounding hesitant.

Damon sighed, recognizing that his tone of voice was not promising a happy ending for Gordon.

"We'll talk later." He said to Elena before walking off with Ric.

* * *

"So…" Sam said as they sat in the motel room.

"I… uh… you didn't have to come, Sam." Dean said, running his fingers through his sleep-mussed hair.

"Yeah, I did, Dean. I should have come sooner instead of waiting for a phone call. Why didn't you tell me that Damon Salvatore was sheriff and that he's been riding your ass? He can't possibly think you're responsible for these murders." Sam said in an unbelieving tone.

"He does." Dean sighed, shaking his head.

"Well he obviously doesn't know you that well, does he?" Jess said, as confident in Dean as Sam was.

"Or he knows me too well. You know that Damon hates me. " Dean said.

"Yeah but he has got to be over that thing between you, him, and Elena after all these years." Sam scoffed.

Dean grimaced slightly and his little brother looked shocked.

"Seriously? He's still fighting with you on this?"

"Well… him and Elena they are… were… uh… engaged." Dean said, looking shifty.

Sam and Jess stared at him.

"But she wasn't wearing a ring. I would have seen it." Jess argued.

He looked at them with a slightly guilty expression.

"Shit, Dean! You've been here for what, two days? You've already broken up an engagement? That's got to be a record." Sam said, staring at him with a surprised expression.

"I didn't do anything… really. Trust me when I say that they were having problems before I ever showed up in town."

Sam looked at him doubtfully.

"That jackass was cheating on her, okay?" Dean said.

"Oh… well… that changes things. I'm glad." Sam nodded, thankful to hear that his brother hadn't gone out of his way to break up a couple just because he was still hung up on Elena.

"How about we go to lunch? We can show Jess around town." Sam offered.

"You go, Sammy. I'm all right without seeing the thousands of judgment looks thrown my way. I'm just gonna hang out here." He sighed.

"You sure? We might be gone all day. Jess wants to see everything." Sam warned him.

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll just stick it out here and watch… something." Dean shrugged.

"You want us to bring you food?" Jess asked, concerned.

"Nah. I'll have a pizza delivered." He said, smiling at them.

Sam nodded and Dean stood when they did. He took his little brother's hand when he held it out.

"I'm glad you're semi-okay, Dean." He said, pulling him into a hug.

"So am I." Dean sighed.

"You've been taking your meds, right?" Sam murmured in his ear, knowing that Dean hated talking about them.

"Yeah, I'm taking 'em." He said uncomfortably, letting go of him and stepping away just like Sam predicted.

"All right. We'll be back." Sam sighed, leading Jess out of the room.

Dean sat back on the bed, looking over at the clock. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

"What do you think?" Alaric said as they stood over the body.

Gordon Walker was dead. There was a large, pick-axe shaped hole in his head and his heart was missing just like Bela.

"We're being mocked." Damon answered, looking around.

The body was dropped at Alastair Warden's supposed 'grave'.

"Only four other people out here earlier. I'm pretty sure my fian… Elena's… not the killer. Get a cruiser outside of the Gilbert house. Find Henricksen, find Bobby Singer, and find Dean Winchester. They're our prime suspects." Damon sighed.

Alaric looked at him.

"This might get more complicated." He said.

"How could this possibly get more complicated?" Damon said.

"I have it on good authority that Sam Winchester pulled into town this morning."

Damon sighed, shaking his head.

"Great, another Winchester to deal with. Makes my day." He grumbled, turning to walk off as he pulled out his phone.

* * *

Elena was just walking into the bar when her phone began ringing in her purse. She dug it out, putting it to her ear as she saw Jo putting bottles on the shelves and Andie pulling down all of the Valentine's decorations. When she saw that it was Damon, she sighed heavily.

"Yeah?" she said, unsure of how to talk to him now.

"We just found Gordon Walker's body in the woods at Warden's grave. This thing is escalating and I just wanted to let you know that I'm putting a cruiser on your parents' house. I would suggest that you stay there but you probably wouldn't listen." He said.

"Don't start, Damon." She snapped, slamming her purse onto the counter loudly, causing both Jo and Andie to jump slightly.

"I'm not trying to start anything, Elena. I'm trying to keep you safe. You should close the bar early tonight and be home, at your parent's home, by a decent hour just in case. If you want, I can have a squad car come and follow you home."

She sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"That's not necessary, Damon. I'll close the bar early." She said.

"All right." he said, sounding frustrated.

"I have to go, I'm at work." She said before hanging up.

"Everything all right?" Andie asked, hopping off of the ladder with a smile.

She looked too pleased at the obvious animosity between Damon and Elena.

"Shove off, Andie." Jo snapped, glaring at her.

"It's all right, Jo. Yes, Andie, everything's fine. Just get back to work, please." Elena said, walking behind the bar and putting her purse on a shelf below the counter.

* * *

Dean approached the mine nervously, a crowbar and a flashlight in his hand. Darkness had fallen just a few minutes ago. Instead of going to the main part of the mine, he went straight to the entrance to tunnel 5, where all of the shit went down five years ago. He managed to get the doors open and peeked inside, shining his flashlight in. He took a few steps forward, his heart pounding. Then he stopped as his mind filled with screams and flashbacks to that night. To all of the bodies that were scattered around and to Alastair holding the pickaxe high, about to bring it down into Dean's chest. He backed away immediately, slamming the doors shut and shaking his head.

He turned away, pulling his pills out of his pocket to pop two into his mouth. That's when he heard the creaking noise. He turned to see that one off the doors hadn't shut all the way and was suddenly wide open. He shined the flashlight into the mine, preparing himself to see the miner running towards him ready to attack. His eyes were suddenly drawn upward and he saw a light on the hill behind the mind. He quickly ducked, turning his flashlight off as he thought he saw the outline of the miner with the light coming from the helmet. He glanced down at his flashlight and when he looked back up, the figure was gone. Dean took a deep breath before moving to run through the trees up to the hill.

When he got to the same spot that he'd seen the figure, he looked around. Then he heard a branch crack and thought he saw a flicker of a light off in the trees. He ran forward, following it as he held his flashlight aloft. He was led straight to the old Salvatore cabin. He heard another few cracks from around the house and crept around to see what was going on. He quickly found that the backdoor to the cabin was slightly open, looking like someone had either entered or left in a hurry. Slowly, he pushed it open and walked inside. There was a squeaking noise from further in the cabin and he walked through to investigate.

When he got into the main room, he jumped slightly when he saw a rat on the bed eating out of a box of chocolates. It startled as well, running off when he shined the flashlight on it. Dean walked forward slowly, snagging the card that was underneath the box and opening it.

_To my Damon,_

_Be mine 4 ever_

_Love,_

_Andie_

Dean scoffed, shaking his head as he dropped the card.

"What a dick." He murmured, turning around to continue searching around the house.

* * *

Once they closed at ten, Elena quickly set Andie to the job of cleaning up as best she could while she washed the dirty beer glasses. Jo had went home a little early. Elena stripped off her jacket and pushed her sleeves up to do the work. After about thirty minutes, she saw Andie mopping up. Wanting to get out and home as soon as possible, Elena decided to hurry it along.

"Andie, you can leave that. Can you come help me carry these to the back?" Elena said, gesturing to the trashbags that she would put at the back door to be taken out in the morning.

"You're the boss." Andie agreed, grateful for a reprieve as she walked behind the bar to help Elena.

"Thank you." Elena sighed.

They picked up the trash and moved to carry it to the back.

She felt Andie's eyes on her as they walked towards the back door and dropped them, walking to get more bags.

"How did you ever end up with Damon if you were with Dean?" the other female asked.

Elena sighed, really not wanting to get into this but too tired to stave the girl off.

"Uh. it was Valentine's Day, you know. when, um…"

"When Harry Warden killed everyone?" Andie said. "You were there."

Elena nodded as they picked up more trashbags.

"Was Dean?" she asked.

"Yeah." Elena said, walking ahead of Andie to the backdoor.

"But Damon was the one that was there for me." she admitted regretfully, hating that it was true.

"But... he's not anymore… there for you, I mean." Andie said.

Elena turned to face her with an incredulous expression. Suddenly a noise sounded from out in the bar and Elena glanced past her with a confused look.

"Did you lock up the front?" She asked the other woman.

"Yes." Andie said slowly, sounding a little fearful.

"Hello. The store's closed." Elena said, walking towards the bar.

"Wait!" Andie grabbed her arm and she looked back at her. "I'm kind of a baby sometimes."

Elena stared at her for a moment before nodding.

"Welcome to the club." She said, her heart pounding as they inched towards the doorway.

They peered out into the bar, looking around. When they didn't see anyone, they inched out further. Their eyes swept the entire place and they didn't see anyone.

"There's nobody here, Elena." Andie sighed with relief.

Elena bit her lip, moving out from behind the bar and walking towards the pool tables.

Suddenly she turned and saw a figure in a miner's uniform standing there, gas mask and hardhat in place with his pickaxe in hand. She screamed loudly, stumbling away as he moved towards her. His hands reached out and he grabbed her as Andie screamed even louder behind her. Before she knew it, Elena was thrown onto her back on the pool table. The wind was knocked out of her and she wheezed, looking up with fear as he lifted the pickaxe and held it high above his head, about to bring it down.

"No!" she cried hoarsely, rolling off before he could shove it into her chest.

She heard a thump as the axe made contact with the table. Elena kicked her shoes off before running behind the bar and began searching for Rufus' rifle, her entire body trembling with fear. Just as she was about to grab it, she was yanked by her hair and shoved into the wall with the shelves of alchol. Many of them fell off, shattering around her. She ducked just as he swung at her, grabbing one of the bottles to slam over his head. As she straightened up, a pool cue slammed over his head, breaking in two. He stumbled away as Andie threw down the other half of the stick. Elena launched forward and grabbed her hand.

"Run, Andie! The back room!" she said, mindful of the glass on the ground and her bare feet, yanking her through the door towards the back office that was mainly used for storage.

They ran into it and Elena slammed the door shut. In the next moment, the pickaxe came flying through it close to where her face was.

"Fuck!" Elena screamed, backing away from it.

"Help me. Help me. Help me!" She ordered Andie as they pushed a heavy file cabinet in front of the door.

"Come on! Come on!"

They shoved the desk towards it next.

"The window!" Elena instructed her as she held the desk in place against the killer's shoves against the door.

"Oh, shit! It's locked!" Andie sobbed as she attempted to open it. "Elena, we need the key!"

Elena shook her head, holding back her tears of panic.

"The key's in the desk. Hurry!" she said, trying to keep herself calm and failing miserably.

They would make it through this, they had to.

"Come on! Hurry!" she shouted.

"Stop yelling at me!" Andie cried, searching through the drawers of the desk.

"Fuck!" Elena cursed, reaching out and grabbing the landline phone that was sitting on the desk.

She quickly dialed 911.

"It's at Mercer's grocery store! It's Alastair Warden, and he's inside!" she screamed into the phone.

"I got it! I got it!" Andie announced hysterically when she found the keys.

She ran to the window to attempt to unlock the padlock that was on the grate to keep the bar from being broken into. Elena was cursing the existence of the stupid safeguard at the moment as Alastair Warden continued to alternate between slamming the pickaxe into the door and shoving his weigh against it.

"I can't get it!" Andie screamed, sounding like she would pass out any second.

When the hole was big enough, the murderer reached in and tried to open the door. Elena threw all of her weight against the desk to keep it closed and he continued to rampage against the door with the pickaxe.

"Got it!" Andie finally cried with relief.

Elena waited until she shoved the grate off to jump away from the desk. They shoved the window open the rest of the way together and Elena shoved Andie towards it.

"Go, go!"

She helped Andie through the window until she was dangling out with her upper body still in the room.

"Wait. Something's not right."

Elena turned to see that Alastair was no longer there.

"Something's not right. Something's… come back."

She began pulling Andie back through as the other female scrambled to get a footing on something to help her.

"Come back. Come back. Come back." Elena pleaded, certain that Alastair was heading for the back alley.

"Oh, shit!" Andie screamed and she felt a tug from the other direction.

"Oh, my God! Elena!"

She tugged back, trying to keep a hold on Andie as she fought to keep her away from the killer.

"Elena, help me! Help me. Elena!" the other female sobbed, gripping her arms tightly.

With one last strong tug, Andie slipped from her arms and out of the window with a scream.

Elena stumbled away and stared at it with horror, not hearing anything else.

"Oh, God. Oh, God." She whimpered.

Suddenly the miner shoved his head and shoulders through the window, swinging his pickaxe towards her. Elena screamed as it sliced her arm and she threw herself backwards towards the door. She shoved the stuff blocking it out of the way and yanked it open, running out. She grabbed the gun out from underneath the bar and then ran for the entrance. As she stumbled out and turned for the alley, she ran into a firm body. Screaming in panic, she shoved away form the person.

"Elena! Elena it's me!" Damon reached out and held her still.

She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"He has Andie in the alley." She said, pushing past him and running towards it.

"Wait!" Damon protested, running after her.

"He's killing her, Damon!" Elena yelled over her shoulder.

"Hey!" he caught her arm and pulled her behind him. "Stay behind me."

They crept into the alleyway with both of their guns raised. Past the dumpster, they saw one of Andie's shoes lying on the ground unattached to her foot. Damon gestured for her to stay back as he moved to look around the dumpster where the window into the office was. She ignored him, remaining close. They both gasped and Elena turned away when they saw Andie lying on the ground with a gaping hole in her chest and a look of fear frozen on her face. On the ground between her legs was a candy box with her heart in it. Damon shined his flashlight on the wall and his blood ran cold when he read the message drawn in Andie's blood.

**BE MINE 4 EVER**

Damon felt like he was going to be sick as he stared at her face. Elena stumbled away, leaning against the wall and attempting to breath deeply. Finally, Damon pulled himself out of his trance and lifted his radio to his mouth.

"This is Sheriff Damon Salvatore. I have a… I need a…" he paused, swallowing noisily. "I need a cororner and an ambulance at the Roadhouse bar."

He walked over to Elena once he finished the call. He reaching towards her bleeding wrist but she shoved him off.

"Don't… just don't." she said, shaking her head.

Damon sighed but nodded, leaning against the wall next to her. They didn't move as the sirens approached. Both of them heard the officers burst into the bar but still just stood there staring straight ahead.

"Damon!" Alaric called from around the corner.

"We're here!" Damon yelled back simply.

The deputy ran around the corner with a few other officers, all with their guns drawn.

"Thank God." Alaric sighed when she shined his flashlight on them and saw that they were all right. "Why did you call a coroner?"

They both looked up at him and then glanced over at the dumpster at the same time. Alaric walked over hesitantly and paled when he saw Andie's body.

"Oh hell." He muttered, turning away.

Damon turned to Elena.

"Let's get you to the ambulance."

Elena sighed, pushing off the wall to walk around the corner towards the front of the bar. Somehow, even though it was late, a crowd was already gathering. A police line was set up to keep them back and Elena walked to the ambulance that was within it.

"I'll get an officer to come get your statement, if that's okay?" Damon said as a paramedic began checking her out.

She nodded numbly and watched the activity around the bar as the EMT took her vitals and wrapped up her bleeding wrist after placing a shock blanket around her shoulders. After a few minutes, the coroner wheeled out a stretcher with a black body bag on it. An officer came up and she told the woman everything that she could remember. Once she was done, Elena's eyes scanned the crowd for any friendly faces. She found none.

"Why would the killer go after Andie? It doesn't make any sense. She wasn't involved in the mine." Damon said to Alaric as they walked up to the ambulance.

"She was connected to you and she was connected to me. Death by association." Elena said before letting out a humorless laugh. "If you'd kept your dick in your pants, she might still be alive."

Damon and Alaric stared at her with surprise.

"I'm leaving." She said simply, standing up.

"You have to go to the hospital. Your wrist." Damon argued.

"It's not deep enough to need stitches. I'll let my dad bandage it up." She said simply. "I'm not going to the hospital."

"Then you should come to the station to give your official statement." He argued as she walked towards the bar to get her purse.

"I just gave a statement, Damon, it's not gonna get more official than that. Unless you are arresting me, I'm going."

"I don't want you going to find Dean." He finally said as she walked into the bar.

Elena turned slowly to glare at him.

"I'm going home to be with my parents and my son. But even if I was going to see Dean, you would have nothing to say about it." she snapped.

"He's a suspect, Elena. I'm not telling you this for personal reasons. You shouldn't be around him until we find this killer." Damon said, staring back at her unflinchingly.

"You mean until you can find enough ridiculous 'evidence' to arrest Dean for these murders because of your pathetic vendetta against him?" she shot back.

"I just want to arrest the bastard who is killing the people in my town!" he snapped.

Elena gave him another icy glare before turning. She grabbed her purse and jacket from behind the counter, trying not to look at the destruction of the bar. Damon followed her as she turned and rushed out of the bar.

"At least let me take you home." he requested as she walked towards her car.

"No!" she fired back at him, digging through her purse for her keys.

"Elena don't be stupid." Damon sighed.

"I don't want your help!" she yelled, reaching her car.

She cut him off from arguing by slamming her door shut and turning on her car. Elena drove home as quickly as she could, catching sight of the squad car in the street as she pulled into the driveway. She bolted out of the car and up to the door, shoving it open as her entire body trembled, everything that happened finally catching up with her.

"Elena?" Miranda walked out of the kitchen and saw her leaning against the door.

Her concerned voice was all it took for Elena to burst into tears, stumbling into her mother's arms.

* * *

Elena woke up the next morning to something sliding into her covers. The previous night, after comforting her for a while, her mom and dad had cleaned and patched her up before sending her to bed with a sleeping pill. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw a pair of curious dark brown eyes staring back at her.

"Morning, little man." she mumbled, pulling him close to her as she ignored the burning pain in her wrist from the cut.

He curled into her and wrapped his small arms around her neck.

"Are you okay, Mommy? Grandpa told me to treat you gentle cause you got hurt." He said, sounding worried.

Elena looked to see her father standing in the doorway to her room, obviously having led Jeremy there so that he could see that she was okay with his own eyes.

"I'm just fine, Jer." She assured him, squeezing him tightly as she could without hurting him.

"Grandma says that you have to wake up cause she has lunch for us." He said, pulling away when she finally allowed him to.

"Lunch?" she said, confused.

"It's past noon, munchkin." Her dad said with an amused look.

"Oh… let me just… get cleaned up." She said, sitting up while still holding onto Jeremy.

"Come on, Jeremy. Let's leave your mom to get cleaned up."

Jeremy scrambled off of the bed and followed his grandfather out of the room. Elena stumbled into her bathroom and looked in the mirror, wincing at her appearance. Her eyes were puffy from crying and her face was still a little pale from all that she'd experienced. She took a quick shower, working hard to keep her wound from getting wet. When she climbed out, she walked into her room to find clothes. She threw on comfortable stuff instead of her normal dress since she wasn't going to work today. There was no way the bar was going to be cleaned up in time to be open. She braided her wet hair over her shoulder and then headed downstairs to find her mother serving Jeremy and Grayson hot dogs.

"You hungry?" Miranda asked, looking at her with concern.

"Not really." She mumbled, sitting at the table.

The older woman sighed and walked to the fridge, pulling out a peach harvest yogurt cup. She handed it to Elena along with a spoon.

"You have to eat something."

The doorbell rang and Miranda and Grayson looked around, confused.

"It might be Damon. He said I'll have to do another statement about last night." Elena said, wishing that it wouldn't be him.

"Well I'll send him away." Grayson said, standing to walk to the door.

She heard him open it.

"Oh, you're not who I expected." He said.

"Is Elena here? Please tell me she's all right. Damon wouldn't tell me anything." Dean's pleading voice floated into the kitchen.

Elena looked at her mother with wide eyes before standing and hurrying into the entryway. Dean, Sam, and Jess were all there. Dean looked at her with fearful eyes, taking in her appearance.

"Thank God." He murmured, walking to her and yanking her into a hug.

She winced in pain but hugged him back, melting into his warm and comforting embrace that she hadn't known that she was craving.

"Are you all right?" he said, pulling away to look into her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She lied, nodding as she tried to smile.

It came out as more of a grimace and absolutely no one believed her words.

"Are you sure?" Dean asked hesitantly.

Her lip trembled and tears filled her eyes again, burning them.

"No." she whimpered, shaking her head.

Dean sighed and pulled her into his chest again, gentler this time. After a few moments, Grayson stepped forward.

"I hate to break this up, kids, but Elena's bleeding through her bandage." He said.

Elena stepped away from Dean and looked down to see that he was right.

"Come on, let's all go into the kitchen." He said.

They walked into it and Jeremy looked up at the newcomers with wide eyes, especially Sam as he'd never seen anyone so tall. Dean hovered close to Elena as Grayson pulled out his medical supplies and began unraveling the bandage to reveal the wound. Dean's jaw tightened as Elena winced at the sight of the gash.

"Are you sure that doesn't need stiches?" Miranda asked worredly.

"Nah, it's just gotta heal up. It's gonna be a nasty scar though." Grayson said, cleaning it up with alcohol soaked gauze as Elena grimaced.

Her hand shot out and grabbed Dean's to hold as he cleaned it. Her head turned and her face buried in his shoulder at the painful sensation. Grayson's eyes flickered up and met Dean's for a moment. The intention in them was clear. Don't hurt her again or you and I will have a problem.

"Can I see it, Mommy?" Jeremy asked, sliding off of his seat and walking over to her.

He always had a fascination with wounds. Elena had a feeling that he might end up following in the footsteps of his grandpa's chosen profession.

"Yeah, little buddy." Elena said, lifting her head to smile forcefully at him.

She looked up at Dean hesitantly.

"Can you lift him up to see?" she asked with pleading eyes.

"Oh, uh… yeah." He said, turning towards Jeremy.

The little boy studied him for a moment before lifting his arms, allowing Dean to pull him up and sit him on the counter.

"Stay there, Jer. You can't touch it." Elena warned, reaching out with her free hand to brush his forehead.

Jeremy watched with interest as Grayson finished cleaning the wound. Elena took her eyes off of him for a moment and looked up at Dean, biting her lip as her father wrapped another bandage around her arm several times. When he finished, she stepped away from the counter and looked at Sam and Jess.

"Sorry about that." she said, not sure why she was apologizing.

"Don't worry about it." Jess waved off with a warm smile.

"You're really tall." Jeremy informed Sam, looking up at him.

"I know." Sam said, grinning at him.

"C'mon, Jer." Elena said, pulling him off of the counter with her free arm.

He didn't let go of her so that she could put him down, instead looping his arms around her neck and wrapping his legs around her waist as she settled him on her hip.

"Let's go into the living room?" she asked Dean.

Miranda and Grayson hung back as she led them in there. It didn't take long for her to get Jeremy distracted with cartoons on the television. She sat on the couch and sighed, rubbing her forehead as she had a dull throbbing in her head.

"What happened, Elena?" Dean asked.

She glanced at Jeremy before looking back at him.

"Alastair got into the bar. He attacked us and… he got Andie." She said, wanting to keep it vague so that Jeremy wouldn't know what she was saying.

They all looked at her with sympathy and Dean had anger mixed in as well. Elena felt the memories resurfacing in her mind and her hands began trembling as she thought of how afraid she'd been when he slammed her down on that pool table and held the pickaxe right over her.

"I was so scared." She whispered, a single tear falling down her cheek.

Dean was pulling her against him immediately as if he wanted to block out anything bad from her. She allowed herself to be pulled into his body. She fought back the tears but simply allowed him to hold her. The doorbell rang and they all looked up. A chill ran down Elena's spine and she had a feeling that she wouldn't be so lucky this time. Sure enough, she heard Damon's voice at the front door. She drew away from Dean with wide eyes. He was wearing a furious expression.

"Jeremy, honey, why don't you go out in the backyard?" Elena asked.

"I don't wanna." Jeremy argued.

"I'll take him out." Jess offered, standing up and walking to him.

"Will you show me the backyard? Please?" she asked.

He looked up at her and nodded slowly.

"It's not that special but I'll show you." he said, standing up and grabbing her hand to pull her outside.

Elena shot her a grateful smile before standing as well and moving to walk to the entryway. Sam and Dean followed close behind her, shadowing her steps like two tall bodyguards.

"I don't think it's a good idea that you come in here, Damon." Elena heard her father saying.

"I'm not here to talk to Elena and I'm not even here to get her statement. I'm here for Dean Winchester. So you would do well to step aside, Grayson." He said.

Elena walked in with her arms crossed, staring him down when he caught sight of her. His eyes flashed to Dean and Sam when they walked in.

"You're coming with me." he said, gesturing to Dean.

"Why?" Elena demanded without letting Dean say a word.

"Because he's a suspect in Gordon Walker's death as well as the death of Andie Starr." Damon answered.

Elena scoffed, shaking her head.

"You are unbelievable." She snapped, starting forward

"I already told you that Dean was with me all night the night that Gordon disappeared. As for Andie, you know that it wasn't him. Why are you so dead set on sticking this on him? Do you want him gone from my life that much?" she demanded.

"This has nothing to do with you, Elena! This is a matter of the fact that he has too many holes in his story! Are you sure hat he didn't sneak out while you were sleeping? Huh? Were you with him last night when my fiance was being attacked?" Damon demanded, looking between her and Sam to confirm it with them.

"My brother is not a killer." Sam said protectively, glaring at Damon.

"Well unfortunately, Winchester, I can't really take your word on that." Damon shot back.

"Do you have a warrant?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow at the other man.

Elena looked back and forth between them.

"What?" Damon said.

"Do you have a warrant?" he repeated.

Damon stared at him.

"That's what I thought. Get some real evidence and a warrant and then you can take my brother in. Until then, stop harrassing him or I'll be contacting a judge to get an emergency restraining order on you." Sam threatened.

Elena fought a smile back at Sam's defense of his brother towards Sam. Damon stared between all of them who were standing protectively in front of Dean.

"When the next person dies, I hope you all are happy with yourselves. I hope that you're pleased to have such a wonderful murderer for a brother." Damon snapped, pointing at Sam before stomping away from the door.

Grayson closed it as Elena turned to look at the brothers, smirking at Dean.

"Still think it was such a bad idea to call your brother?" she asked, sounding vaguely proud of herself.

"Oh hush." Dean said, pulling her into a hug.

* * *

When Damon stomped into the station fighting back the urge to scream out curses, he was shocked to find his brother waiting at his desk.

"What are you doing here?" he sighed.

"Following up on a few things I heard through the grapevine." Stefan said, staring at him with cold eyes. "Did you really cheat on Elena with Andie and get the girl pregnant?"

"I don't need this right now, Stefan, and I certainly don't need it from you." Damon snapped.

"I also heard you've been stalking Dean Winchester. You've got to stop this, Damon. You're going to get in a lot of trouble." Stefan warned him, putting a hand on his shoudler.

Damon threw it off and shoved him away.

"I don't need your advice, brother. Get out." he snapped before turning to walk into the bathroom.

* * *

"You sure you want to do this?" Dean asked.

"I need to." Elena said, walking up to the door of the bar and unlocking it with her key.

She'd gotten the green light from the police that she could clean up the bar after they'd gotten everything that they could from the place. They cleaned up the alleyway so that she didn't have to do it. Dean, Sam, and Jess all followed her into the messed up bar.

"Damn." Sam murmured, looking around.

Elena looked down at the pool table as she passed, her eyes falling on the hole in the table where the pickaxe entered. The exact place that her heart had been when she was lying on the table. Her fingers trailed over it as they shook.

"Hey."

Dean reached out and took her hand, lifting it to his mouth and kissing it.

"We don't have to be here. I'm sure you could get Ellen and Jo to clean this up." He said.

"No, I want to get it done." She said, shaking her head.

"How can we help?" Jess offered.

Elena smiled at them and shook her head.

"You don't have to help." She said.

"We want to." Sam said.

"All right, there are a couple of brooms in the back office. Can you go grab them?" Elena asked, not wanting to go anywhere near there.

"We're on it." Sam said, taking Jess' hand and pulling her around to the back.

Elena started towards the bar but Dean stopped her, turning her towards him.

"If you want to leave, just say the word and we'll leave, okay?" he said.

She nodded, smiling at him.

"I will." She agreed.

Dean tilted his head down and pressed his lips to hers softly. Elena sighed and allowed herself to melt into the kiss. Her arms snaked around his neck and she held onto him for dear life, feeling safer in his arms than anywhere else.

* * *

**Author's Note: There you go! I hope you enjoyed it with the addition of a little Sam. Anyone have any theories yet on how the story is going to end. I'll give you a hint. The killer isn't really Alastair Warden. Any guesses on who it is? I'm not going to tell you if you're right or wrong to keep up the suspense. I just want to see if anyone knows yet. REVIEW PLEASE!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD, Supernatural, or My Bloody Valentine. All rights go to respective owners.**

**A few things:**

**1. It was great seeing your theories. They haven't changed who the killer is because I've known who it was since the beginning of the story but I loved seeing what your points of view were.**

**2. I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I've been rather busy and distracted. I promise I'll try to pick up the constant updates again.**

**3. A new bomb is dropped in this chapter that changes the entire flow of the mystery of the killer. It might make a few of you second-guess your idea of who the killer is.**

* * *

Elena looked around the bar after an hour, satisfied to see that the place was looking almost normal again. The first thing she did was tear down all of the rest of the Valentine's decorations. She was done with the holiday and wanted nothing more to do with. Jess and Sam had cleaned up all of the broken glass while Dean went to the back office and fixed it back to how it looked before.

"Thank you so much for helping." She said, sliding onto a barstool.

"It's no problem at all." Jess said as she and Sam sat at a table.

Dean walked back in and stood beside Elena, reaching around her shoulders to pull her into his side. Both Jess and Sam couldn't help but smile at the way that she relaxed into him. It was amusing and pleasing to see how quickly they fell back into old habits even after five years.

"Can I offer anyone alcohol as repayment?" Elena suggested.

They all murmured in agreement and she moved behind the counter, pulling four beers out of the small refrigerator under the bar. She popped the tops off and Dean reached over, taking two and handing them to the other two.

"How is your arm?" Dean asked as they went to the table and sat with Sam and Jess.

"It's fine." Elena shrugged off, attempting to ignore the twinging pain around the wound.

Jess recognized her discomfort and quickly changed the subject.

"So you own this place?" the blonde asked, glancing around.

"I own some of it. My parents started the place and gave it to me but they still have part ownership." Elena explained, sipping at her beer.

"That's really cool." Jess said, smiling.

"Yeah. I was thinking about extending it a little. I have such a hard time working nights and not being there for Jeremy. My dad and I have been making plans to maybe turn it into a restaurant during the day that I can work in and a bar at night that Jo and Ellen can manage." She said.

"That sounds interesting." Sam commented.

"We're not sure how it'll go with the town but it'll make home life a lot easier. I miss spending nights with Jeremy." She sighed.

"I'm sure the town'll support you. They all love you." Dean assured her.

Elena smiled gratefully at him before looking at the others.

"So Sam, tell me about Stanford. I want to hear everything." She said, leaning forward with a smile.

* * *

Hours later, they were all comfortably tipsy and Elena, Dean, and Sam were regailing Jess with hilarious stories from their childhood, telling them rather dramatically. The blonde was delighted at hearing them, grinning widely as she leaned into Sam.

"You should have seen the look on his face!" Elena said, giggling as Dean glowered around at them and Sam howled with laughter. "He worked so hard to get home on time and all he saw was three empty pie dishes and a bunch of dirty plates!"

"Little did he know…" Sam chuckled. "… that there was a whole other pie in the oven and we were just playing a trick on him."

"We all thought he was going to blow up right then and there. His face actually turned really red." Elena explained, grinning at Jess as she rubbed Dean's back comfortingly.

"But then you should have seen the look on his face when we brought that whole pie out just for him. I've never seen him smile that big." Sam said.

"It was a pretty fantastic pie." Dean nodded.

"Oh really? And, uh… who made that pie?" Elena said, looking at him with twinkling eyes.

"Uh… I don't know. Grayson?" Dean asked.

She scoffed and slapped his arm, rolling her eyes.

"I'm joking, I know you made it and it was damn good." He said, pulling her in and pressing a kiss to her head.

"Ah, it's close to midnight and we had a long day. We should be getting back to the motel." Sam said, looking at his watch.

"I'm sober enough to drive." Jess offered as they stood.

"Do you want us to drop you off at home?" Sam asked Elena.

"Uh…" she glanced at Dean, an uncertain look in her eyes.

He looked at her with the same look mirrored on his face.

"I'd hate to bother my parents and Jeremy by coming in late and being loud." She said, shrugging.

"Yeah, that'd be rude." Dean agreed, nodding.

Sam and Jess looked amused by the two making up excuses like teenagers sneaking around with each other.

"All right, we'll all head to the hotel." Jess said, holding up the car keys.

They'd taken two cars to the bar but they left the Impala despite Dean's whiny complaints. When they arrived at the motel, Elena and Dean stumbled to his door as Elena texted her mother that she wouldn't be home that night.

"See you in the morning." Sam said as they walked to a room a few doors down.

"Good night!" Elena and Dean chorused, waving at them.

They finally got into the room and Dean immediately closed and locked the door as Elena switched on the light. She walked to the bed as Dean pulled off his jacket. She shed hers as well just before she crawled onto the bed and dropped on her stomach, burying her face in the pillow. A few moments later, she felt the bed dip and another body hovered over hers. She smiled slightly as Dean brushed her hair aside and began placing soft kissing on her neck. She hummed into the pillow, feeling his hand on her back.

"Dean?" she murmured, turning her face to look at him.

"Hmm?" he mumbled, lying down next to her and looking into her eyes.

"Where did you go when you left?" she asked, a serious look in her eyes as she spoke.

Dean sighed, slowly turning over onto his back to stare at the ceiling.

"I traveled around for a while, taking the random jobs when I could."

Elena sat up on her elbows to look at him.

"After about a year I went to Samuel's house and stayed with him, working at his hunting supply store."

She reached out and paced her hand on his chest, directly over his heart.

"You've been there ever since?" she asked.

"Nah. I only stuck around for a few months. I was, uh, I was having a hard time of it. I went to California and found Sammy. He helped me out as best he could and I was there with him and Jess ever since. I had a place a few minutes from theirs." He explained.

Elena moved her hand up slightly, sweeping her thumb over the hollow of his throat.

"Were there any other girls?" she asked bluntly.

Dean looked at her with surprise, swallowing hard.

"I mean, Jess set me up on a few dates with her friends but it never really went anywhere." He answered.

Elena nodded, feeling glad for that even though it was unfair of her after she spent four years with Damon.

"Elena…" Dean sighed.

She looked up to see him looking regretful and she knew that he was most likely about to make an apology. She wanted nothing of the sort.

"Did you have nightmares?" she asked.

He looked broken and his eyes moved away from hers.

"All the time." he said honestly.

"So did I. Still do… sometimes." Elena admitted.

She put her hand on his cheek.

"I didn't have a nightmare when we slept together the other night."

He smiled slightly, nodding.

"Neither did I." Dean said.

Elena pushed herself up and put her lips on his gently. Her hand slid back to move into his hair and she stroked it softly. His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer. She put her hand on his chest and moved to straddle his legs, her hair forming a curtain over their faces as they continued kissing softly and slowly. Dean pushed himself up to a sitting position and his hands slid under her shirt, pressing against the skin of her back. Elena gasped at the contact, deepening the kiss as she nipped as his lower lip. Her hands slid down to the hem of his shirt and she hesitated a moment before pushing it up. They broke apart and looked at each other with heavy eyes, silent communication passing between them. Dean lifted his arms after a moment and Elena obliged his request, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it away.

He fell back against the pillows at her insistence. She ducked her head and pressed a kiss to his throat as her hands slid up his arms to rest on his shoulders. Dean sighed quietly as her lips moved lower. They pressed to his chest just over his heart and she turned her head, laying it on his chest. Dean smiled slightly as she stilled, just listening.

"Elena…" he murmured.

"Shh." She cut him off, refusing to move from where she was listening to his thudding heartbeat.

"_Ugh, would you two stop being so sickeningly adorable?" _

_They both looked to see Katherine leaning against the tree in the park with her arms crossed over her slightly swollen stomach._

"_I'm listening to his heart." Elena defended herself, laying her head back on his chest and smiling when the sound filled her head again._

_Dean simply lay there, pulling his fingers through her silky hair. Their entire friend group was at the park just having a day of fun with each other._

"_Do you want to go feed the ducks with everyone else?" Dean asked softly._

_She opened her eyes to see Katherine walking towards the group that was feeding leftover bread to the animals._

"_No. I'm happy here." She decided, clutching at his Metallica shirt._

"_So am I." he decided._

_Elena lifted her head to look at him. Her hands crossed over one another on his chest and she rested her chin on them._

"_My birthday is next week." She said._

_Dean smiled slightly, reaching down to stroke her cheek as he stared up at the blue sky._

"_I know." He answered._

"_It's gonna be a good day, I know it." she said confidently._

_Dean glanced at her with questioning eyes._

"_You usually hate your birthday. Katherine starts drama and someone gets in a fight." He said, reciting her own words._

"_That's true. But this year, I'm going to be spending most of it with you." Elena said, smiling widely at the thought._

_He didn't know what she had planned and that was a good thing. She wanted it to be a surprise._

"_You don't want to have the day with your family or your friends?" he asked, looking confused._

"_Nope! I have many more birthdays to come to spend with those people. My birthday this year is reserved for the one and only Dean Winchester." She said confidently._

"_Well… I'm flattered." He said, smiling at her._

_Elena grinned up at him. She moved up and pressed her lips to his softly. Her hand brushed through his hair as she looked down at him._

"_We still shooting for forever, Mr. Winchester?" she asked._

"_Yes we are, Miss Gilbert." He replied with a twinkle in his eye._

"What are you thinking about?" Dean's voice pulled her out of her memory and she looked up at him.

"Forever." She breathed sadly.

Realization dawned in his eyes instantly and he looked sad as well. She slid away from him and turned over, sitting up and pushing her hair behind her ears. She felt him sit up beside her.

"I just wish you'd stayed here. We could have worked through it together. Everything would be different." She sighed.

"I know." Dean said quietly.

She felt her lip trembling and fought to keep the tears at bay. She was so tired of crying.

"I thought you would show up to Katherine's funeral. I was so sure. Everyone kept looking at me sympathetically when I said it but I just knew that you would be there. Instead, Sam shows up and tells me that you're gone. One of the worst days of my life and I find out that my boyfriend left town without even speaking to me. I never heard from you again, Dean. And then I try to move on, I try to make a family out of the ashes of my life. Then you just show up in my bar, looking just as… gorgeous as always but with pain in your eyes that I was so used to seeing. That I saw every time I looked in the mirror. And you shattered it all. You made me realize that the family I was trying to build would never happen. You made me realize that I would never be happy with the life I was trying to live. Why did you have to do that? Why couldn't you have let me keep fooling myself into thinking that my life was okay?"

Tears were running down her face at this point.

"I'm sorry." He murmured.

She turned to look at him to see his eyes slightly shining. One tear fell all the way down his cheek as he looked at her.

"I still love you..." her voice broke on the third word. "… and I hate myself for it."

Dean let out a sharp breath at her words. She turned and pulled him to her, pressing their lips together. Her tears continued falling, staining both of their cheeks.

"_You sure it's all right that we're here?" Dean questioned as they walked into the lake house._

_Elena turned with a sigh._

"_Dean, please stop worrying. That's usually my job. My parents know that I'm here because they gave me the key. The only thing is that they think I'm here with Caroline who is perfectly fine with this arrangement because she's staying with Tyler in the Lockwood cellar for the night while she uses this as an excuse too. It's all okay." She assured him, moving forward to press her lips to his. "Now stop freaking out. It's my birthday and you are supposed to be giving me everything I want for this one day."_

_Dean relaxed with a sigh before pulling her in and kissing her thoroughly._

"_Anything you wish, Miss Gilbert, is all yours." He murmured as he pulled away._

_Elena grinned at him before pulling him into the living room and plopping them down on the couch. She reached into her large purse and pulled out a bottle of wine._

"_I nabbed it from the bar when Ellen wasn't looking. Shall we?"_

_Dean grinned at her and stood._

"_I'll get glasses and a cork." He answered._

_Her smile grew and she nodded eagerly. She stretched her legs out and kicked her shoes off before tucking her legs underneath her as Dean darted out of the room. He came back in with the promised items, sitting next to her. Elena watched as he opened the bottle of red wine and poured some of it into the two glasses. He held out one to her and then held his up._

"_What are we toasting?" he asked._

"_To us. Because I love you." Elena said simply._

"_Sounds good to me. And I love you too." He grinned at her before clinking their glasses together. _

_They both sipped at their wine as they talked about random things. Finally, after emptying three whole glasses of their contents, both of the teenagers were feeling rather warm and their cheeks were flushed. Dean took the glasses and set them on the table before shoving the cork back into the bottle. They both knew it wouldn't be a good idea to get fully drunk on the alcohol. Elena pulled him in once he leaned back, initiating a long and lazy kiss. Dean pulled her forward and turned them so that she was straddling his lap. After a few minutes of slow burning making out, Elena drew away and stared into his eyes._

"_Dean." She whispered, her hand stroking his cheek._

"Elena." he replied, his voice soft and smooth as it caressed her name and caused her to shiver.

_She leaned in and pressed her lips to his once more before kissing down his jaw. Once her mouth was at his ear, she dared to whisper something before lightly teasing his earlobe with her teeth and tongue. Dean's breath caught in his throat as his mind processed the words._

"_I want you, Dean. Now. All of you."_

_He knew the implications of the statement and he suddenly drew away, staring into Elena's eyes._

"_Are you sure?" he asked with uncertainty. "I don't want to do this if you're not sure. I don't want this to be like it was with anyone else. I don't even want you to think that it might be. This is much to important to me to rui…"_

_Dean was cut off by her finger on his lips._

"_Shh… it won't be ruined." Elena murmured, stroking his cheek with her other hand. "I love you and I want this so badly. I want it to be with you and I want it to be tonight. It will be perfect and it will make this birthday the best of my life. I want that with you, Dean." Elena breathed, looking completely serious and sober as she spoke despite the slight glaze in her eyes._

_Dean knew then that she put thought into it and, after learning that this wasn't just a drunken suggestion, he found himself pulling her in for a passionate kiss as his hand went to the zipper of her dress._

Elena pulled away, looking deep into his green eyes that were darker than normal. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as her hands gripped his shoulders tightly. She moved to straddling his hips sometime in their kissing and he was leaning back against the headboard.

"Dean…" She whispered, catching herself as she bit down on her lower lip.

"Elena." he replied, his voice urging her to finish the thought.

She leaned in, her lips ghosting over his.

"I want you. All of you. Now." She murmured, repeating the words that she spoke so long ago on the night of their first time together.

Dean recognized them without hesitation, his body relaxing underneath her before he pulled her into another kiss.

* * *

When Victor Henricksen heard the news about Elena being attacked and Andie Star being killed, he knew that the killer wasn't done. In fact, he knew that the killer was only going to step up his game and go after someone else. Somehow, deep in his instincts, he knew exactly who was going to be next. Instead of going to the sheriff's department, which he didn't trust at the moment, he decided to take it upon himself to go to the Gilbert house to check on them and make sure they were all right.

When he arrived at the house, he immediately saw the squad car parked outside. He approached it slowly, keeping his eyes on the house. That was when he saw the shadow move against it, the unmistakable sight of a pickaxe in the person's arms. He hurried to the squad car and knocked on the driver's window several times as he drew his personal handgun. The female officer climbed out, tossing her newspaper in the seat as she looked at him questioningly.

"He's here, inside the house." Victor hissed without hesitation.

Inside, the two elder Gilberts were watching television. When Grayson heard a squeak, his eyes flashed towards the area where the stairs led up to the bedrooms.

"Should I go check on Jeremy?" he wondered.

"He'll never get to sleep if you keep checking up on him. He always gets so excited." Miranda sighed, smiling over at her husband.

"I'm just worried about him." he admitted.

Another squeak sounded and he sighed, leaning back against the couch as his wife shook her head and patted his arm placatingly.

"Relax, Grayson. You know we have a cop watching our house. They would see if anything bad going on and they would let us know." Miranda assured him.

At that moment, a frantic knock sounded on the door. They exchanged looks before standing up and walking to the door together as another knock sounded.

"Victor?" Grayson questioned with confusion.

"He's here, Grayson." Victor said as he and the officer rushed in.

Suddenly, the Gilbert patriarch realized that the squeak he was hearing was the unmistakable sound of the stairs squeaking under the weight of feet trying to be silent as they snuck upstairs. He knew because he spent several nights listening for Katherine to sneak back into the house.

"Jeremy!"

He was off before anyone could stop him but they were hot on his heels as they rushed upstairs. The door to the young boy's bedroom slammed open as they rushed in and Jeremy sat up with sleepy eyes. Grayson, Miranda, and Victor sighed with relief when they saw that his room was empty, even his wide-open closet with the light on revealing no one hiding in there. That was when they heard choking and spluttering coming from outside the room as well as the sound of heavy breathing followed by a thump. They all turned with wary expressions to see the female officer lying on the ground with a slit throat, her eyes lifeless as blood seeped out onto the wooden floor of the hallway.

Miranda almost screamed, only fighting it back for the sake of her nephew behind her.

"Miranda, get Jeremy into the closet. Stay there." Grayson instructed.

She didn't waste a moment, darting to Jeremy and dragging him out of the bed.

"Grandma? What's going on?" He asked with confusion.

"Jeremy, I want you to duck down." She whispered as she pulled him into the back of the walk-in closet that used to belong to his biological mother. "Stay quiet, okay?"

Jeremy nodded solemnly, pushing himself down further into his grandmother's arms for protection as he sensed the danger of the situation. Grayson glanced at her before slowly following Henricksen out of the room.

* * *

"Maybe if you go to her and apologize…" Stefan began.

"It won't work." Damon groused, his head dropping as he quickly drank yet another glass of expensive scotch. "I would be willing to bet all of the money I will ever have that she is with Dean Winchester, killer extraordinaire. I almost want to catch him in the act just so that I can show her that I am right."

"You're so sure it's Dean?" Stefan questioned, his eyebrows raising.

"Who else could it be? He's the difference here. He's the returnee to town and the killings started up as soon as he got here. It has to be him." Damon sighed, reaching for the bottle again.

"I think that's enough." Stefan said, pulling it away.

Damon lifted his head to glare at his brother. Before he could argue with him, his phone rang. He reached out and picked it up, studying the caller ID with confusion before answering.

"Salvatore." He said simply.

His eyes widened when he heard the person on the other end.

"Grayson? What the hell do you…?" Damon instantly sobered when he heard what the other man said. "I'll be right there with backup."

* * *

Elena sighed softly as Dean kissed his way across her collarbones as his hips moved, thrusting his pelvis forward before easing back. He was gentle, just as he always was. It wasn't that he was treating her like a porcelain doll about to shatter. He was simply treating her like she was his most treasured possession that accidentally lost for a while but that he never wanted to lose track of again. Her hands were wrapped around his shoulders as her legs were wrapped around his back, her ankles hooked at the base of his spine to change the angle of his thrusts for both of their pleasure.

They were both lost in the actions, their soft moans and sighs filling the room as they made love. Dean captured her lips in a sweet yet passionate kiss. Elena slid her hands into his hair and moaned into his mouth when he hit the perfect spot inside of her over and over again. Suddenly their perfect bubble was popped by the shrill sound of Elena's ringtone filling the room.

"I have to… Dean…" she whimpered, wanting to cry with the unfairness of the situation.

"Can't you ignore it?" He groaned, burying his face in her neck as he continued moving despite the ringing.

"I can't… if it's Jeremy." Elena answered regretfully.

Dean sighed, pulling away and sliding off of her to allow her to grab her phone out of her purse that was on the ground by the bed. When she saw the caller ID, she knew that she was right to stop Dean to answer it.

"Mom? What's going…" Elena cut off, a startled choking noise coming out of her mouth as her mother's rushed explanation filled her ears. "What?" she cried.

Dean looked up with wide eyes at the panic in her voice.

"No Mom I'll… I'll be there. Jeremy is okay?" Elena's voice and entire body was trembling.

"Yeah, I'm coming now."

Dean watched as she scrambled out of bed once she hung up, quickly pulling on her clothing.

"I… I need you to take me to my parents' house now." Elena tried to choke out as tears filled her eyes.

"Hey." Dean grabbed her once he pulled on boxers and jeans. "What happened?"

"The killer got into my parent's house tonight. He killed two people. Mom says Jeremy is fine." Elena whimpered as Dean looked as panicked as she felt.

The interrupted sex was immediately forgotten as Dean darted around, pulling on a shirt and a jacket.

"Let's go." he said, pulling her towards the door.

* * *

"That son of a bitch killed two people in my house! With my grandson and my wife in there! I want him caught! Now!" Grayson demanded, glaring at Damon.

"I know, Grayson. You have to believe we are trying everything we can to do this." the sheriff sighed.

"Are you? Because there have been absolutely no results and only more deaths. You really just seem to be focused on tearing my daughter apart, Damon. And you don't think I smell that alcohol on you? You get this done before another member of my family is hurt or I'll find someone who can."

Grayson didn't often get demanding or angry but the killer had gone after every member of his family by now and he was sick of it. He turned, watching just as the Dr. Fell wheeled out Henricksen's body with the female police officer's body right behind her. She was acting as the coroner since the normal one was sick with pneumonia. They watched the bodies loaded into ambulances before Dr. Fell walked over to Damon. Grayson watched closely as he walked to his wife and grandson who were huddled on the front porch of the house.

"What do you mean, it wasn't the same killer? Grayson saw him. The gas mask and everything." Damon hissed at Dr. Fell.

"Well, in this case, a pickaxe wasn't used. I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure whoever killed these two used a knife to slit both of their throats and, in the case of Victor, his wrists to make him die faster. Also, everyone who has reported the murderer so far has claimed that he swings with his right arm. The wounds reveal that the person who killed these two came up behind them and slit their throats from right to left which can only happen if they're left handed." Meredith explained softly.

Damon stared at her with horror.

"So, what? Whoever is killing people with the pickaxe…"

"… has a partner? That's my theory." Meredith confirmed with a nod.

Damon shook his head, rubbing it. All of the sudden, everyone's alibis were falling to pieces in his mind as he thought about them. One name still stood out in his head and he turned, walking to Grayson.

"Where is Elena?" he demanded.

Grayson glared back at him.

"It is absolutely none of your…"

"I know you called her and I know she's with Dean. Where is she? Is she coming?" he asked again, cutting the Gilbert patriarch off.

"Yes she is. I called about twenty minutes ago."

Damon squinted at him.

"Even if she's coming from the Thunderbird… she should have been here by now." He said.

Realization dawned in Grayson's eyes as he realized that Damon was right.

* * *

"Elena…" Dean hesitated as she looked over at him with terrified and devastated eyes. "I don't think it's Alastair."

Her brow furrowed as she stared back at him.

"What are you saying?" Elena asked, unsure of how to react to his claim.

Dean looked over at her hesitantly.

"Do you trust me?"

"Dean…" Elena began.

"Do you trust me?" he repeated, looking at her with wide, pleading eyes.

"Yeah. I trust you." she nodded easily, not having to lie about it since she really did trust him.

"Okay, good. There's something I have to show you." he said, swerving off of the road to go in a different direction.

"Dean, I have to get back to Jeremy." Elena protested with wide eyes as she knew exactly where they were going.

"I'll take you to him. But I gotta show you something first and then we'll go to Jeremy and your parents." Dean said, looking at her for an answer.

Elena hesitated as she thought about it. There were cops surrounding Jeremy and her parents by now so they were perfectly safe. She nodded her head slowly as Dean sighed with relief that she agreed to do whatever he was trying to do.

* * *

Damon was dialing Elena's number when Alaric came running up to him.

"Sheriff." He breathed, his eyes wide as he held up a file.

"I have to do this, Ric." He said, trying to dismiss him.

"I just got that report in on Dean Winchester. You're gonna want to hear this."

* * *

"It took me ten years to get that mask out of my head, and just like that, it's back." Dean sighed as they drove towards the mines.

He glanced over at Elena to see a stressed expression on her face.

"You know Damon owns land up here?" he questioned.

"Yeah. It's his dad's old place." Elena nodded without hesitation.

"Been there lately?"

She shook her head, wrinkling her nose. No one went up there as far as she knew.

"Damon's not who you think he is, Elena."

Elena looked over at him with a creased forehead and confusion in her eyes.

"What are you saying?" she demanded.

"I'm saying I think he's responsible for what's going on. The murders." He said, his eyes wide and imploring for her to believe him.

"That's crazy." She said, horrified at the idea that Damon might be behind what was happening.

Suddenly her phone began ringing and she pulled it out, instantly seeing Damon's name flashing up on the screen.

"Don't answer that." Dean instructed even though he couldn't see who was calling.

Elena ignored him, answering it because she knew Damon would be at her parents' house.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Where are you?" Damon demanded.

She hesitated, giving Dean a side glance.

"He's with you, isn't he?"

"Yes." She answered without hesitation this time.

"Who is that?" Dean demanded, looking suspicious.

"All right, Elena, listen to me. You need to get away from Dean now." Damon instructed her, sounding panicked.

"I'm not sure if I know what you mean." She replied vaguely.

"Dean has been in a mental institute for the past three years. He is not the guy you grew up with." Damon said, trying to get her to believe him.

"Who is it?" Dean asked again, a hint of anger in his voice as they hurtled down the road.

"The killer, whoever it is, has a partner. There is clear evidence of a partner. Whoever it was was in your parents' house. They went after Jeremy and they might have killed everyone." Damon explained. "Henricksen is dead as well as another cop. They went after you son. And now Dean has you."

"Jeremy. Is he…" Elena began.

"Jeremy's fine. Jeremy's fine." Damon assured her. "He's with your mom and dad heading to the station with Alaric. He's safe."

Elena sighed with relief before she remembered that Damon was making a case to her that the man next to her was a serial killer.

"Look. I know I've been horrible to you. And I'm sorry. Okay? You can leave me if you want, but just get out of the car, please. Elena, get out of the car." He pleaded.

"Thanks for taking care of him, Mom." Elena said before hanging up.

"I need to get to the police station. My mom said that Jeremy's not feeling very well and he needs me." she said, averting her eyes so she wouldn't have to see Dean's burning gaze.

"That wasn't your mom." he said, his voice dark with anger.

Elena looked over at him with surprise at the sudden change in his attitude.

"I need to get home to my son." She said, furrowing her brow.

"Don't you trust me?" Dean asked with pleading eyes once again.

"Take me to the police station!"

"Damn it, Elena! I need you to understand!" Dean shouted as his hands slammed down onto his steering wheel.

"Oh, God!" Elena jumped, flinching away from him.

"Okay? I need somebody to understand."

"Dean. Dean, you're starting to scare me." Elena said in a small voice.

"You're the only one that I can trust. Okay? You gotta go with me on this." he said, pressing his foot down on the gas pedal.

"I have a son. Please, just take me home." she pleaded, wishing that he would turn around and drive back into the town.

"Damon wants you to think that it's me, but it's not. Okay? I don't think you know what he's capable of. I'm not gonna let you take that chance, okay? I'm not gonna let you do that again. I'm here to protect you this time." Dean said with certainty.

Elena could hardly believe his complete one-eighty from the way he'd been acting ever since he came back into town. Gone was the charming, loving Dean that she knew so well. In his place was an erratic man who was seeming more and more dangerous the longer she spent in the car with him. Before she knew it, her hand shot out and grabbed the steering wheel, yanking it so hard that they propelled into a tree and crashed, the frame of the car crumpling as her head slammed into the dashboard and his into the steering wheel.

* * *

**Review please! Once again, I am so sorry for the lack of updates lately. Please forgive me.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD, Supernatural, or My Bloody Valentine. All rights go to respective owners.**

* * *

Elena whimpered as she pushed the door open and fell out of the car, her head swimming and her body feeling like it was going to collapse at any moment. She blinked away the pain and glanced back to see that Dean was unconscious. Her mind swirled around for a different reason as she decided whether to stay and help him or run away. Both his and Damon's words flashed through her mind and she took a deep breath, turning to run. If she couldn't figure out who to trust, she could at least run away from both of them. Her phone began ringing as she darted through the woods and she answered it when she saw Damon's name on the ID.

"Elena!" he exclaimed, sounding relieved when she answered. "Where are you?"

"I crashed the car in the woods by the mine." She stammered out, continuing her fastest run through the trees towards the mine.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked before anything else.

"Yeah. I think so." she answered, fighting back the urge to dissolve into tears.

"Okay." He sighed. "You go to my dad's old place, all right?"

"Okay." She agreed, wondering if he was heading there.

If he was, she would have to deal with it if it turned out he was the one lying and Dean was telling the truth. She wasn't sure which was worse, Damon being the killer after spending years with her son or Dean being the killer when she was still heartbreakingly in love with him.

"You hide. I'm on my way."

"All right." Elena said before hanging up.

Her run turned into a sprint as she hurtled toward the mine. She bypassed it, quickly climbing the hill up to the old Salvatore house. She ran to the door and tried to open it only to find that it was locked.

"Shit." She cursed, looking around as she wondered what to do.

Elena caught sight of a large rock and looked at the door handle to see that it was very rusted.

"Okay." She sighed, picking the rock up and holding it up high before bringing it down on the doorknob.

After several hits, the handle fell off and she shoved the door open with relief. She slammed it behind her though she knew that anyone could get in now. The house was completely dark as she walked forward, mindful of the things littering the floor. When she caught sight of an old mattress with sheets strewn across it, she approached it hesitantly. There was a heart box of chocolates on the bed as well as a card. She picked up the card and opened it to see a message from Andie to Damon on it, Be Mine 4 Ever, the same that was on the wall above her body in her blood.

Elena dropped the card before hesitantly reaching for the box of chocolates, entirely uncertain of what she would find. When she opened it, her heart stopped for a moment as it skipped a beat. The picture of her and Dean on the night of the massacre in the mines was sitting in the lid. Her mind flashed back to when Damon was holding it up. He was the last person to have the picture. Her heart began pounding even faster at the realization.

"_Damon wants you to think that it's me, but it's not, okay?"_

The words echoed in her head as she drew away, her breathing picking up as she skirted around the bed. She ran into the kitchen, hoping to find a knife or at least something to defend herself with.

"_I don't think you know what he's capable of."_

Just as she reached out to open the pantry, hundreds of empty heart chocolate boxes spilled out. Elena jumped back with a cry of shock as she recognized them immediately as Alastair Warden's M.O. She stared at them with horror, her body frozen. Suddenly she heard a creak behind her as the door opened. She turned slowly to see a figure with a gas mask on and a pickaxe in his hand.

"Damon." She whimpered.

He stepped forward and that was enough to snap her body into action. She turned and ran, heading straight for the front door and throwing it open with a bang as she heard heavy footfalls pursuing her. Elena's chest burned and her eyes leaked salty drops as she sprinted to the forest away from her attacker.

"Fuck! Fuck!" she chanted as she ran, somehow wondering if it would make her feel better to curse as she did so.

She reached the mines, immediately diving for the first door that she saw. It was locked so she didn't dwell on it for long, instantly running further. Before she knew it, she was running into the first door she found that was open. It also happened to be tunnel number five where the massacre happened. She ran in, the dreadful feeling in her chest telling her that she was not done being pursued. She turned on the spot, searching for a weapon. Instead, she simply found a flashlight and she scooped it up, praying that it worked when she switched it on.

Elena almost sighed with relief when it turned on but she didn't waste the time, darting forward into the tunnel as she attempted to ignore the flashbacks of the last time she was there. As she rounded the corner, she let out a scream when she saw the miner hurtling towards her, his pickaxe raised. She threw the flashlight at him without thinking, grateful when it bounced off of his helmet and slowed him down as she turned to run into the same tunnel where her sister was murdered. She dove behind a wall, attempting to slow down her breathing so it wouldn't be so loud. When she heard heavy footsteps approaching her, she readied herself, bending down to pick up an abandoned piece of wood that was about two feet long.

The person drew closer and, before he could walk forward to see where she was hiding, Elena jumped out and smacked him over the head. Damon fell backwards into a pile of plastic tubes as his gun flew out of his hand and to the ground. Elena didn't hesitate before reaching down and grabbing it. She pointed it at him as he stared up at her warily.

"Don't move, Damon." She spat out, glaring at him as she felt like her heart was about to pound out of her chest.

"Elena, what are you doing?" he asked warily, moving to stand up.

"I found your hearts." Elena said accusingly.

"Hearts? What are you saying?" he asked, confused.

"Up in the house!" she yelled. "Your fucking Valentine's hearts!"

"The Valentine from Andie?" he said. "Look, I'm sorry. All right? It meant nothing…"

"I'm not talking about fucking Andie! The hearts, Damon! The over a hundred fucking candy boxes you used to put the hearts in!" she screamed, her hands shaking as she held the handgun trained on him.

Damon looked alarmed at her accusation.

"It's… it's Dean, Elena. Dean must have…" he stammered.

"Stop it!" Elena yelled, traitorous tears filling her eyes. "It's your house. Damon! The picture of me and Dean, you took it! It was there!"

"Dean must have put it there. Elena, I've been working the past seventy-two hours. When would I have time to play psycho?" he reminded her.

"You're the sheriff, Damon."

They both jumped and turned to see Dean limping down the tunnel towards them. His face had blood dripping down it and he looked worse for wear from the crash. Elena backed away, her entire body trembling violently as she was faced with the two men she wanted to trust more than anything but couldn't because how could she trust anyone right now?

"I mean, you come and go as you please." Dean said.

"Dean, stay back." Elena said, her voice shaking as badly as her body.

"It's okay, Elena." he said, his voice warm and comforting once more, a far cry from the crazy it was emitting earlier.

"All right…" Damon moved closer to her as well.

"The both of you, stop fucking moving!" she screamed, stumbling backwards as she aimed the gun at both of them alternately.

"Elena, look at me." Damon said, trying to sound calm.

She did as he said, looking at his face.

"Shoot him, and he won't move."

"What?" Dean said, looking at the sheriff with shock. "Damon, we're gonna get you help."

"You are so full of shit!" Damon shouted. "Elena, stop it. You don't fucking believe this guy?"

He gestured to Dean as her face crumpled with panic and devastation at the decision she was facing over who to trust.

"Damon, I know you hate me and I don't really give a shit." Dean said, facing the other man. "But Elena was your fiancée so stop lying to her!"

"Shut up!" Damon bellowed. "He's crazy! He was in an institution!"

"Oh, that's real nice. Nice try. Yeah I was in an institution. For the bad dreams I was having. They were giving me anxiety and panic attacks so I was seeing a therapist there." Dean snapped at him, looking furious.

Elena looked at him with a clenched jaw, wondering if that was the truth and hoping that it was.

"Fuck it. Just shoot us both." Damon decided, seeing her face wavering.

"What?" Both her and Dean said at once, looking at him with surprise.

"Yeah, just shoot us both." Damon nodded, opening his arms. "Do it. Come on, it's your only choice."

Elena hesitated, staring at him warily.

"If you just shoot me, Elena, you'd still be down here with a killer." Damon pleaded with her.

"What are you talking about? Elena, don't listen to him." Dean said, looking panicked.

"Elena. do it." Damon urged her.

"He needs help. Elena." Dean argued.

"Do it. You have to do it." Damon said. "Elena! Shoot us!" He yelled.

She let out a whimper and her body stumbled backwards once more as her mind raced and twisted around the decisions she could make.

"Nobody's shooting anyone, Damon." Dean said, trying to convince her not to shoot anyone.

"Shoot us!"

"Elena, listen to me!" Dean said, turning to look at her.

"Will you stop it?" she cried, their back and forth not making her mind go any slower.

"No, listen to me!" Dean pleaded. "The words that Andie wrote in her Valentine, Be Mine 4 Ever? Those are the same words written in blood above her dead body. Isn't that right. Damon?" Dean said, looking at the sheriff.

"I'm gonna rip your fucking head off." Damon growled.

Elena stared at Dean in horror, something clicking in her mind that he said.

"How did you know about the words written on the wall?" she questioned, aiming the gun at him.

Dean stared at her in shock.

"Elena…" he began, his voice soft.

"How did you know?!" she screamed, tears escaping from her eyes as she waited on an explanation that would prove to her that Dean wasn't the killer, or at least one of the killers.

Because if he was the killer she wouldn't make it. If the man she loved was so horribly evil that he killed people she knew, she would never get over it.

"I told you, I was taking you to the old Salvatore house. That's what I was going to show you. The heart boxes and I saw the note there. I was in the house Elena. I saw it."

"Yeah, and then you wrote the words above Andie's body!" Damon yelled.

"No I didn't! I didn't kill anyone!" Dean shouted back.

Elena let out a broken sob and shook her head.

"I can't… I don't…"

She didn't know what to do. Faced with two men who could be the murderer, she had no idea what to do. She couldn't shoot them both. She couldn't kill the only two men that she ever cared about. Suddenly, she heard the unmistakable heavy breathing behind her followed by heavy footfalls.

"Fuck!" Dean and Damon proclaimed at the same time, in agreement for perhaps the first time in their lives.

Their eyes were wide as they looked behind her at the figure stepping out of the shadows.

"Elena, come here." Dean said, gesturing for her to move towards them.

She turned around slowly instead, her eyes falling on the figure all in black as her arms dropped from where they were still shaking.

"Alastair." Elena whispered as she saw the bloodstained pickaxe in his hand.

Two hands belonging to two different men seized her arms and yanked her backwards away from the murderer. They all stared at him as he stepped up and his head swiveled. They couldn't see his eyes but they knew that they were boring into theirs.

"It's impossible. It can't be Alastair." Damon said, shaking his head.

Both of their hands were still holding Elena's arms, ready to whisk her away if the killer attacked.

"Who the hell are you?" Damon demanded, glaring at the man.

There was a few moments of silence other than his heavy breathing before the murderer lifted a black gloved hand to his mask and pushed it up slowly until it fell back onto the ground behind him. Their gasps all filled the tunnel as they stared at the one face they never expected to see.

* * *

**I will update as soon as I can but I'm going to bed for the night. Please review if you're reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD, Supernatural, or My Bloody Valentine. All rights go to respective owners.**

**Thanks to DrawingMyHeartOut, Duffster21, Cold North, SwanQueen4055, and MermaidPrincessAly for reviewing!**

**This is the second to last chapter, just to let you know. Elena's outfits are on my profile.**

* * *

"N-no. No no no." Damon repeated as they all stared in horror at the figure in front of them.

"Oh my God." Elena put her hand that wasn't still holding Damon's gun over her mouth.

The man in the miner's suit grinned at them all, sadism in his eyes that almost made him unrecognizable.

"You all look reasonably shocked, but I must say… I expected more."

Damon shook his head, his face pale as he moved forward. Elena reached out and snagged his sleeve, trying to keep him away.

"Stefan, what the hell are you doing? Why are you dressed like that?" he said, his mind not quite comprehending that his brother was dressed like the serial killer that he was hunting.

"Oh come on, Damon. You know exactly what I'm doing." Stefan said, his voice cold as he stared at his brother, no emotion in his eyes.

"No, this is crazy. You are not the killer. You can't be…"

Damon cut off and they all flinched away when Stefan held up the axe he was holding. It was covered in blood, all of it dried.

"This is covered in the blood of every victim who has died since Bela Talbot. I'm sure your boys can test it… once I use it for my last few kills of course." The younger Salvatore said, staring at the sharp blade.

"No, Stefan you aren't a killer!" Damon moved forward and Elena let out a cry of panic.

Dean moved around her and snagged his windbreaker, yanking him backwards.

The sheriff struggled, glaring back at Dean.

"Let go of me." he growled.

"No!" Dean grabbed him with both hands and pulled him away, Elena stumbling backwards with them. "Your brother is a killer! He will kill you if you get too close to him! He has proved that!"

"You don't know anything! My brother is not a killer! He's not!" Damon shouted furiously as he shoved Dean backwards.

"Actually, Damon… Dean is right. I am a killer. But he's wrong about one thing. I won't kill you. Just him and his slut." Stefan pointed the axe at Dean and Elena. "Then his brother and that blonde whore of his. Then I'm done. You can take me in and throw me in prison for the rest of my life."

"Stefan, what the hell are you talking about?" Damon demanded. "This isn't you! I know you, you are my brother! Why the hell are you... what happened to make you like this?"

Stefan let out a cold laugh.

"What happened? What happened was that you all stood by, watching, when Alastair killed Katherine. None of you gave a damn and she died!" he yelled, his good humor gone.

Elena felt tears burning her eyes and she took a step forward. Dean immediately pulled her back again but she started speaking.

"That's not true, Stefan. She was my sister. I loved her and I mourned her when she died." She said.

His eyes flashed to her.

"No, you mourned for him." Stefan pointed his finger at Dean. "You didn't give a shit that Katherine was gone. You only wanted your boyfriend back."

"No, Stefan." She shook her head. "I've missed my sister every day since she died. I would give anything to have her back."

"You're lying!" he yelled, raising his weapon and causing them to stumble backwards.

Dean snapped into motion, reaching around Elena and grasping her hand that held Damon's gun. He lifted it and she panicked yet didn't move away from him. Before she knew it, he was firing the gun. Damon let out a cry of shock as Stefan stumbled backwards with the force of the bullet that entered his shoulder. He let out a yell and dropped the axe out of instinct.

"Run!" Dean shouted, yanking both of them in the other direction.

Elena grasped Dean's hand and allowed him to drag her out, Damon hot on their heels as he finally realized that the killer behind him wasn't his brother, not anymore. Tears streamed down her face as they ran. It wasn't until she felt Dean yanked backwards that she knew that Stefan had recovered. The younger Salvatore brother threw the older Winchester brother against the wall with difficulty, his arm unable to lift very high because of the bullet buried in his shoulder.

"Dean!" Elena cried as Stefan swung the axe at him.

He ducked it and aimed a punch directly for the killer's stomach, knocking the air out of him. Stefan's knee lifted, slamming into Dean's face and sending him careening into the dirt wall once again.

"Elena!" Damon tried to pull her away but she struggled, flashbacks going through her head of the last time that Damon tried to drag her away from Dean down in the mines.

Suddenly Stefan reared back and Elena stared with horror as the axe scraped Dean's stomach, causing blood to spread through his shirt quickly. She swung around and pointed the gun at Damon.

"Try to get me away from him again and I will shoot you!" she screamed, well aware that she was hysterical and acting a bit insane as the smell of blood filled the air.

Damon staggered backwards and lifted his hands in surrender.

"Elena he's after you. I have to get you safe." He said calmly, moving into sheriff mode rather than big brother mode as he blocked off his emotions.

"He's trying to kill Dean!" Elena whirled around and pointed the gun at Stefan. "Stop it or I will shoot you in your fucking head!"

Stefan turned his head and looked at her with a furious expression. Dean was huddled on the ground ducking another blow from the axe and holding his stomach where blood was still spilling out.

"You don't have the guts." Stefan snapped, ripping the axe out of the wall and turning towards her.

Her hands trembled as she stepped backwards.

"You killed everyone! You tried to kill me and Dean! You went after my fucking son!" she wailed.

"He's not your son!" Stefan roared, raising the axe and bolting forward.

She let out a scream and before she knew it, her finger was pulling the trigger. A shot rang through the air followed by Damon's strangled shout of panic. Stefan froze in place, his eyes widening as he looked down at his chest where blood was leaking out of a bullet hole directly into his heart. He looked up at her and blood dribbled out of his mouth.

"You bitch." He gurgled, stepping forward.

Elena whimpered and stepped back, bumping into Damon who was unable to move as he watched his brother's face grow paler. His grip on the axe faltered for a moment but then he lifted it again and started to charge at her. Elena sobbed as she pulled the trigger again, this time hitting him on the other side of his chest. Stefan staggered backwards but still didn't give up.

"I'm going to kill you." he said, baring his teeth at her.

Elena took a deep breath and lifted the gun, aiming straight for a place that he wouldn't survive.

"Fuck you!" she proclaimed, her voice even.

Stefan faltered and she took the chance to pull the trigger once more. The bullet struck between his eyes with startling accuracy and his body crumpled, the axe falling to the ground and his eyes staring at the ceiling, unseeing. Elena let out a whimper as her body was suddenly weighed down with what she did. The gun dropped from her hand and she fell to her knees, tears overflowing from her eyes as her body trembled. Five minutes ago, she was accusing Damon and Dean of being killers. As it turned out, the only killers in the room were her and the dead body lying in front of her. The thought weighed heavily on her, causing her entire body to shake.

"Elena." Dean said weakly and her head lifted to see him half lying on the ground still clutching at his wound. She moved forward, crawling to him and shifting his head and upper body into her lap. One of her hands joined his at the wound and she automatically put pressure on it as the other hand cradled his head and stroked his hair.

"Stay with me!" she pleaded, her tears falling as she stared into his glazed over green eyes. "Dean! Stay with me!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Damon move to his brother's body and his head bent over his chest as he mourned for Stefan. She looked over at him at the same time that he looked up at her.

"I'm sorry, Damon. He was going to kill more. I had to… I'm so sorry." She whimpered, trying to ignore warm blood covering her hand.

Her eyes went back to Dean and she saw that his eyes were fluttering.

"No, Dean!" she cried, shaking him to keep him awake. "You can't go to sleep! You have to stay awake! Please!"

His breathing grew labored and his hand suddenly clenched down on hers, squeezing it weakly.

"Lena…" he whispered, straining to speak.

"I'm right here, Dean. I'm here." Elena said, taking his hand and holding it.

"I… I love… you." he managed to say, blinking furiously to keep his eyes open.

"I love you too." She whimpered, stroking his cheek with her clean hand. "I love you, Dean Winchester. So you have to stay with me, you hear me? You have to…"

Elena cut off when he let out a shattered breath and his eyes slid closed, not opening again.

"No." she breathed, shaking her head. "No!"

She began shaking him as her entire body panicked and sobs tore out of her chest.

"No! Dean! Wake up! Please wake up!" Elena screamed, desperate to see her eyes open.

"Elena…" Damon said.

She looked back at him and followed his eyeline to the lights coming down the tunnel. Suddenly Alaric ran in with a few other officers following him. They all had guns and flashlights. When they caught sight of Stefan's lifeless body with the axe lying next to him, they all looked shocked.

"We need an ambulance!" Damon announced, trying to hold it together so that he could be a sheriff. "Dean Winchester is hurt!"

* * *

Elena sat in the uncomfortable seat staring straight forward. Her entire body felt numb. She didn't want to look down, knowing that she would see her clothes covered in Dean's blood and that wasn't something that she could handle at that moment. She heard a noise and a shout. When her head turned, she saw her parents rushing into the hospital with Jeremy by her father's side. Her son was the one who shouted, wanting to get to his mother but Grayson was holding him back as Miranda rushed forward holding a stack of clothes. Elena stood and accepted her mother's embrace, burying her face in her hair and holding back more tears.

"I'm so sorry. I am so so sorry." Miranda murmured, squeezing her tightly.

Elena let out a whimper but refused to shed any more tears.

"Thank you for bringing me clothes, Mom." she said, taking the garments.

"Do you want me to come with you?" her mother asked, glancing at the bathroom in the waiting room.

Elena shook her head and walked into the bathroom slowly, closing the door and locking it. When she faced the mirror, she saw that her eyes were puffy, her cheeks were red, and she looked like a wreck. Her clothes were splattered with blood. She made quick work of them, yanking them off and throwing them into the trashcan, never wanting to see them again. Her face hovered over the sink as she splashed water on it before pulling her hair up into a high messy bun. Then she pulled on the lounge clothing that her mother brought and the shoes before washing her hands and drying them off.

When she opened the door, she walked out to see her parents sitting with Jeremy between them. This time when he ran for her, no one stopped him. Elena bent down and scooped him into her arms, holding him tight to her chest as she walked to the chairs. She pressed her face into his hair and rocked him as they sat down, trying and failing to forget the horrors she'd seen ever since the murders first began with her sister's death.

Grayson rubbed her back comfortingly and she leaned into the touch. Several minutes later, the door slammed open again and Sam and Jess hurried in. Elena moved to stand up, passing Jeremy into Grayson's arms. The two hurried to her.

"What's going on? What happened? Where's Dean?" Sam demanded, only knowing from the phone call from Alaric that he had to go to the hospital.

Elena's lip trembled as her hands twisted together.

"It's Dean, Sam… he…" She shook her head as her eyes burned with tears. "He got attacked. It was Stefan, the killer… he was only targeting four more people. Me and Dean and… and you two."

Sam looked shocked as Jess gasped and took his hand, her eyes wide.

"Where's Dean?" Sam asked.

Elena bit her lip and glanced down the closed hallway of the hospital before looking back at him.

"Sam I…"

She was cut off by the door opening and Meredith walked through holding a chart. Elena grasped Sam's shoulder and pulled him towards her.

"What's going on?" they all demanded.

"He's stable. He lost a lot of blood but the laceration managed to miss any organs so we were able to stitch him up successfully. Barring any other problems, we think Dean will make a full recovery." Meredith said, nodding at them.

Sam sighed with relief and held Jess close as the blonde fought back happy tears at the good news. Elena's hands went to her mouth and she turned away, hiding her face as it screwed up with the emotions that kept spilling out of her. Sam reached out and put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"Elena…" Meredith said.

She turned back, her dark eyes shining with tears.

"He's awake and he wants to see you… all of you." the doctor said.

Elena nodded and tried to get herself under control, glancing back at her parents before walking with Sam, Jess, and Meredith down the hallway. They got to the room and Dr. Fell left them alone, excusing herself to the nurse's station as Sam pushed the door open. Him and Jess walked in first and Elena hovered at the doorway. Dean was sitting up in the bed squinting up at the television as he clumsily switched the station. His eyes flashed to his brother and Jess and lit up, a grin forming on his face.

"Hey! I have visitors!" he proclaimed, looking thrilled.

Sam laughed as Jess grinned at him, both of them leaning over the side of his bed.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked.

"I'm great! They gave me some pain meds… it was awesome." Dean breathed.

"You have your regular meds too though, right?" the younger brother confirmed.

"Yeah, Sam." Dean nodded.

"It's good to see you up and talking." Jess said, reaching out to squeeze Dean's hand.

The older brother's face suddenly fell and he glanced around, not noticing Elena hovering by the door.

"Where's Lena?" he asked, his brow furrowing and a frown in place on his face.

"I'm here." She said, stepping forward.

His eyes fell on her and he looked relieved despite being high on pain medication. She walked around the other side of the bed and took his other hand, staring down at him as her hand lifted to stroke his hair.

"Hi." Dean sighed, staring up at her with dilated yet still beautiful eyes.

"Hi." Elena murmured, smiling slightly.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded and attempted to smile again. This time it was a little bit more of a grimace.

"I'm fine." She tried and failed to lie.

Dean didn't look fooled and his doubtful expression caused her throat to choke up again and she shook her head, looking down.

"I can't believe this… I can't stop crying." She whimpered, trying to wipe at her eyes to keep the wetness from falling.

Dean reached up and grasped her wrist. Cautiously, he slid over and pulled her towards him. Elena realized what he was doing and hesitated.

"I don't want to hurt you." she said warily.

Dean shook his head.

"I'm high on morphine and the cut is on the other side. I want to hold my girl so lay down with me."

Elena sighed and carefully climbed into the bed, lying on her side and putting her head on his chest. She didn't notice Sam and Jess slip out of the room but when she looked up, they were gone. Dean's hand stroked her hair and she laid over his chest, her hand over his heart.

"You saved my life." Dean murmured.

Elena blinked slowly, trying not to cry.

"I killed someone." She whispered.

Dean swept his hand over her cheek.

"You saved everyone. You are a hero, Elena." he assured her.

"I don't feel like it." she admitted quietly.

Dean sighed and picked her head up, staring down at her.

"Then I'll have to keep reminding you until you do feel like it." he decided.

Elena considered his words before pushing up and pressing her lips to his gently. They kissed softly for a few moments for a few moments.

"I know you're tired." she said.

"Are you tired?" Dean questioned, tilting his head to the side.

She nodded and he sighed, pulling her back down to lay against him. He pressed a button on his remote and the lights of the room switched off.

"I love you." he said, still stroking her head.

Elena held onto that, knowing that it hadn't changed.

"I love you." she replied, her eyes fluttering closed just before her body gave into the overwhelming urge to sleep.

* * *

Elena walked quickly, holding her purse in one hand and a bag full of food in the other. Meredith grinned at her as she passed and Elena gave her a small wave before turning to walk into the room.

"All right I have a big cheeseburger for you because you can't eat the damn hospital food, you whiny bra…" she cut off when she saw two people standing in the room next to Dean's bed.

The patient in question was sitting up with his hands folded in his lap and he glanced over at Elena. It had been two days since the attack and Dean was doing better, having been taken off of the strong medicine and his wound was already healing nicely. They were going to release him the next day as long as he promised bed rest. Elena assured the doctors that it would happen.

Her eyes widened when she took in the two men in suits, one of them wearing a rumpled trenchcoat as they both scanned her.

"You're Elena Gilbert?" one of them questioned.

"Yeah." She nodded, moving forward and setting the food on Dean's lap. "Who are you?"

They both dug into their suit jackets and pulled out black ID holders. They flipped them open and showed them to her.

"Special Agent Gabriel Milton and Special Agent Castiel Novak with the FBI. We're here to discuss the murders with you." the one in the trenchcoat explained.

Elena sighed heavily and set her purse down.

"We've gone over this with the officers…"

"This is different, Miss Gilbert." Agent Milton cut her off.

Dean took her hand and nodded at her, indicating that he was all right to talk if she was.

"Call me Elena." she said, squeezing Dean's hand comfortingly.

"Well in that case, call me Gabriel and call my partner Castiel." The shorter of the two said, gesturing to her chair before they sat in two chairs of their own.

Dean shrugged, screwing decency and pulling out his burger to dig in, appeasing his starving pit of a stomach. Elena shot him an exasperated look but didn't say anything.

"What do you want to know?" she asked the two agents.

"Oh we have all the information we need from you. We just thought it would be nice of us to come in and let you know what we know." Gabriel said.

Elena and Dean exchanged strange looks before glancing back at the FBI men.

"Okay." They said at the same time, both wary.

Castiel pulled a photograph out of his pocket, showing it to them.

"Have you ever seen this man?" he asked, his deep and gravelly voice somehow more comforting than it should have been.

They both shook their heads.

"Who is he?" Elena asked.

"He was caught driving away from Virginia with a car littered with empty candy boxes, a miner's outfit, and a bloodstained axe." Gabriel said.

Their eyes widened and Elena looked at the man smirking at them out of the photograph.

"That's Stefan's partner? That's the other murderer?" she asked.

Both of the men nodded as Castiel put the picture away.

"Who is he?" Dean asked.

"His name is Klaus MIkaelson. We believe that he was actually the mastermind behind the murders." Castiel answered.

"What makes you think that?" Elena asked.

"He's wanted in twelve other states for murder and suspected of homicide in at least six other states." Gabriel informed them.

They both stared at him in shock and Elena squeezed Dean's hand.

"What does he have to do with Stefan? I mean, we've never seen him in Mystic Falls and I know Stefan never mentioned him." Elena said, feeling confusion.

"That's because he wouldn't want to mention his partner in crime." Gabriel said, nodding as if it was normal.

"How did they even find each other? Hey, nice to meet you, want to help me massacre half of my hometown?" Dean scoffed.

"We believe that they met on a business trip and things escalated from there."

Elena frowned at his choice of words.

"Escalated? What do you mean?" she questioned.

Castiel's blue eyes stared deep into hers.

"Mr. Salvatore is suspected to be involved in a great many of Mikaelson's killings either as an accomplice or an active participant." He replied.

"But that's impossible. He's… he was…" Elena stammered.

"We matched the dates of Mr. Salvatore's business trips to the murders occurring in the places where Mr. Mikaelson's kils showed up. They all corresponded. He was in town every single time a murder was committed by Klaus." Gabriel said.

Elena shook her head looking at her hands.

"He killed more than just the people here?" she whispered.

"Yes." Castiel answered simply, earning a glare from Dean and a roll of eyes from Gabriel at his blasé attitude.

Elena looked over at Dean who was watching her carefully. When she turned to look at the FBI agents, she had one more question for them.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" she asked.

"Because Mr. Mikaelson wants to meet you with… only you." Gabriel said, staring at her.

Elena was shocked.

"Why does he want to meet with me?" she questioned.

"We don't know but he won't confess unless he gets a meeting with you." Castiel told her.

Elena took a deep breath, looking down at the blankets covering Dean's lap and legs. Her mind raced through the options as she considered what to do.

"You don't have to do it." Dean reminded her.

Elena glanced up and suddenly knew what she had to do. She squeezed Dean's hand before turning to the agents.

"I'll meet with him."

* * *

**Review please! Remember, only one more chapter! **


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